Seven Breaths
by Nighttime Sunshine
Summary: AU. Sirius comes across the Potter's home at Godric Hollow and makes a decision. He would be the driving force behind the savior of a people. (H/Hr way down the road)
1. Seven Breaths

Failure. A failure. It was all he was. He was wrong. How could he have been so stupid? How could he have missed it? The stuttering bastard would get. Killing would be too nice. Hell, the Cruciatus was too kind. He would tear off his penis and slowly, ever so slowly dice it into one hundred pieces, and force feed it to the bastard. How could he fucking do this? Was there no god? Was this punishment for some wrong he had committed? He felt his anger rising. How could this happen?

He took one more glance across the clearing. The house was in shambles. Their bodies strewn across the back. They had been running. They were defenseless. He had failed. He didn't know what to do. He had to kill someone. Something. He could expose the fucking rat, but who would believe him. He closed his eyes. In the words of the ancients, one should make his decisions within the space of seven breaths.* He inhaled deeply, there had to be wisdom somewhere. One. What was he going to do? Two. Would anyone believe him? Three. Could they find him? Four. He had to pay. Six. He needed to die. Sev-

He heard movement. He looked around. Near Lilly. He ran over. Underneath her, covered in warm blood was the baby. He was still alive. Why was he alive? Why was he cut on the forehead? Why was there a wand near the robes?.........Voldemort never left anyone alive……no one………………Voldemort. He was dead. He was gone. Right? How else.

He jumped up and picked up the wand. Engraved in it was the dark mark. He was gone. Harry had done it? Or was it Lilly? What the Fuck happened. Aurors would arrive soon. What was he to do. He was Harry's godfather. He would get custody. _They think you sold them out. Shit. You're right. Decide now. The boy, or the rat. Revenge, or protection. A traitor, or an orphan.He scooped up the baby, and with his own wand cleaned the face. Someday, years away hopefully, he would have a lot of explaining to do. He baby was crying, and there was nothing he could do. He couldn't go home, they'd find him. He couldn't go back to his hiding spot. Dumbledore would find him. The boy would be taken, sent to an orphanage. Surely Lilly's sister wouldn't take him. They hated magical people. The boy would grow up abused, homeless, alone. He couldn't let him suffer that. With him he'd experience the same thing. __At least he wouldn't be alone. That was all it took. Sirius went into the smoldering wreckage, and fished around where the Potter's bedroom would have fallen to. He took the Gringotts key, the invisibility cloak, what was left of the family album, Jame's schoolday journal, and last, Lilly's locket. He felt like he was violating her, by taking the piece of jewelry she held more dear than anything else. Even more than her wedding ring. He opened it. James and Lilly were waving on one side. On the other, was Harry Potter._

"Your going to be the most famous baby in our world. Yes you are." The baby grabbed on to Sirius, and was asleep in seconds. "I know little, I know." He put on the invisibility cloak and walk away into the woods. He figured it would be the last place they'd expect him to be. As soon as the glowing mark from above where the house once was, was out of sight, he lay down with the baby almost inside of a very thick trunk of a tree. After three minutes he heard the yelling. The world would soon know that the threat was gone, but the most popular baby in the world, would share the same fate.

/\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/

"Get up you ugly little creature. You have to get to school!" Sirius yelled from the bottom of the stairs.

"You can't make me" came the response.

"Hey! Just because I don't use magic doesn't mean I can't" Sirius yelled. He swore this kid was worse than James ever was. Hell, even worse than he was. "Do you really want to miss your first day of fifth grade?"

"Yes!"

"Why?" Harry appeared at the top of the stairs wearing his pajamas.

"Because you said I can't do pranks anymore this year. What's the point of school if you can't do jokes on people" Harry argued. His arguing skills definitely did not come from James. Sirius put both hands on his head.

"Look, when I told you of our childhood stories, it was not because I wanted your childhood to be the same way."

"I don't believe you."

"Well maybe you shouldn't, but that's beside the point. If you don't go to school, they won't let you go to Hogwarts" Sirius taunted.

"Again, you're lying. They wouldn't live if they turned me away. You know what the people would do to them. You have to remember, I am a celebrity, who's never made an appearance. And as soon as I flash my prize winning smile, they'll melt like butter in a hot pan" Harry smirked.

"You're in fifth grade, where do you come up with this stuff?" Sirius was awestruck. Even the language and structure was a bit advanced.

"My dad's journal. He was quoting you when you were going to get on the table at dinner and ask anyone to accompany you to the ball" Harry smiled. 

"THAT'S IT!!! You are no longer allowed to read that journal. It is off limits, you are too young and too smart, and I forbid you to ever do it again. Now, go to your room" Sirius was visibly agitated.

"Fine, it's where I wanted to be in the first place" Harry said through a fake yawn. He was just in distance to hear Sirius curse and bang his head into the wall. Repeatedly.

"What have I gotten myself into?" he asked himself. Maybe he should have gone after Peter. Peter wouldn't have even put up this much of a fight. He knew, deep down inside, that this kid was killing him. He was dying slowly. The stress was too much. He couldn't take it any longer. He had to get out.

"What's for breakfast?" Harry said. He had obviously disturbed some higher thinking from his guardian (which was rare enough), because he received a very confused look. Harry was already dressed and looked like he knew exactly what he was doing.

"I, uhhh, eggs. I'll make eggs. How do you want them?"

"Preferably deshelled, and fried in a large pan at three hundred degrees. After they reach the cooking temperature, would you kindly toss in onion with chips of the meat of the pig, and slice the egg into one inch by one inch squares, add a half a teaspoon of salt and serve on buttered toast." This did nothing for Sirius's confused face. "Scrambled with onion and bacon chips. And toast" Harry simplified. Sirius nodded and while walking by Harry into the kitchen, he hit him lightly on the head, muttering something that sounded vaguely familiar to "smartass." 

About thirty minutes later Harry came down the stairs with his backpack filled with folders and papers and everything his teachers told him to get. He stopped at the mirror, and Sirius took out his wand. He muttered a few words, and Harry felt his scar disappear. "You know it only works for ten hours, so you have to be back by seven so no one will know, alright?" Harry nodded vigorously, and the spark of mischief lingered in his eyes.

"Can we take the corvette?" Harry asked, nearly jumping in his shoes.

"What? You don't like the Mercedes?"

"I like it, but it just seems, overdone and fake. It's all plastic and you can't even hear the engine, not to mention feel it. The corvette, though, that's just really cool."

"You think if you show up in a metallic blue Corvette you'll be cool?" Harry nodded vigorously.

"I have a feeling you're going to make more entrances at Hogwarts than I ever did. Fine, but you know you're walking home. Don't talk to strangers, and if funny people ask you your name, you're-"

"Harry Planters, just like the peanut" Harry rolled his eyes. "Can we go?" 

"Yeah" Sirius tossed Harry the keys. "Start it up for me. I'll be out in a second." Harry started walking away. "Wait. Give it to me."

"What. The keys?" Harry asked innocently.

"No, you know what I'm talking about. Give it to me" Sirius wasn't up for games.

"What?" Harry said, visible keeping a straight face.

"_Accio" Sirius said, his wand trained at Harry. A long slender object came from Harry's pocket and landed in Sirius's hand. It was a wand. "How many times have I told you not to take this. It is not yours. It was V- Vo- His. This is not a toy for you to play with, and it is certainly not yours." Sirius moaned. This was beginning to get old. Who was he kidding, it became old a long time ago._

"But the first time I touched it, it sent out red sparks" Harry argued. Didn't he ever get enough?

"That is precisely why I am worried. Do not play with this." Sirius handed Harry a lunch box, and after locking the door, they both climbed into the Vette. Sirius turned the key and the engine growled to life. "So, how fast should I be going when I drop you off?"

"I don't think you could go fast enough." Harry said with the evil glint once more occupying his eyes, and this time, Sirius's eyes had the same expression. But Sirius never saw Harry pluck a long slender piece of wood from his own pocket.

*- Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai 

This is my second attempt at a story. This one will be updated a lot less frequently than the other, but I thought of it and wanted to get it written. It gives me someplace to start. Tell me what you think. Write a review. Say Hi. Happy reading.


	2. Recovery

            "I think that if we have the guy run into a pole at full speed, it'll just be better." Sirius said, and he was being serious. This was his job, and there was no joke about it.

            "I still don't get it."

            "Look, we have a guy put on the shoes and run incredibly fast. He turns a corner and hits the pole. Then the announcer says something to the affect of 'Our shoes will make you faster, use them with caution.'" The man nodded and kept going over it in his mind. There was a loud and sudden beeping.

            "What it that?" the man asked. Sirius realized it was his beeper. He pulled it off his suit and looked at it.

            "Shit. Harry." Sirius glanced around quickly. "My son's in trouble, please let me go." There was so much imploringness in his voice that the man had to let him go. Sirius knew he couldn't apperate there. It would get too much attention from the magical authorities. 

            He sprinted down the stairs, and out to the silver-blue automobile. It was time for the car to reach it's limits. Sirius felt he shouldn't be too surprised, it was only a matter of time before they found him. He knew that Harry had a few tricks to keep them away, but in such a public place, it would be hell. As soon as he was on a straight road, he unleashed the engine to it's full fury. 150 km/h. 160. 170. 180. 190. 200 km/h. Sirius swerved to miss a car as he went through a red light. He was so happy he didn't work far from the school. It was still in the second week of school, and Harry had already gotten the aurors on him. What did he bloody do this time? Was he still able to be saved? Sirius saw where it was. Where else? The playground. He jumped the curb and sped toward the metal climbing things the muggles put out there. Harry was standing on one shooting everything he could think of at the three aurors still standing. Four were already on the ground. Harry worked quickly. Sirius pulled underneath it and Harry knew what to do. He lowered himself into the car and they sped off. They would be tracked, but they still had a few minutes to stop at the house. A hurried good-bye would be all they had time for.

            Sirius didn't bother parking in the driveway, he pulled right up to the front door. He used magic to open the house, and they both ran upstairs. Sirius through everything of importance into his trunk which was always half packed. He carried it downstairs running, and tossed it into the trunk of the car. He grabbed some food as well, and got to the car. Harry was already climbing in. There was only one place where Sirius could gain the advantage of cover, lots of it. He roared the engine to life and gunned it, fishtailing onto the street. In seconds they were gone, and would never see their house again.

/\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/

            They went in silence. Their Corvette had been turned black to fit in more, and they now went the speed limit as they entered greater London. Sirius let out a sigh, and visibly relaxed. The chase was hopefully over, and they would just have to find a new place to stay. Sirius turned off the main roadway, and started cruising slowly down the narrower avenues.

            "I'm sorry" Harry said. He was obviously exhausted. Sirius could understand. Dueling was draining, especially for a ten year old.

            "It's alright, Harry." Sirius messed up his hair, not like it was necessary. "You did well for an under-aged and kidnapped wizard." Sirius offered as much of a smile as he could.

            "I'm sorry I got caught with magic" Harry said again.

            "It was going to happen sooner or later. This wasn't the first time, and I doubt it'll be the last. An amazing and powerful wizard, you are. You have to let the magic out sometimes. We got away, and that's all that matters. You're not going to school any more, not until Hogwarts, And I. I won't be working. We'll just hang out for a few months. I could train you a little in magic, and we could get fat on pizza and beer." Sirius's glint in his eyes was all Harry needed. It was what amazed him so much about the man. No matter what kind of tragedy or close call happened, he always saw the good in it. 

            The silence returned, but it wasn't heavy anymore. They pulled up to a small, neat looking hotel, and Sirius parked in the underground lot, and he got out. Harry watched to see how he would react. He would never admit it, but Harry had always followed Sirius's example. No matter how he claimed to act before his parents death, Harry would always see Sirius as responsible, caring, loving, and funny as hell. And despite the lack of blood connection, Sirius would always be his father.

            Sirius took out his trunk, and Harry his bag. They climbed into the elevator and went up to the ground floor. Sirius glanced around, just to make sure no wizarding folk were around. Harry knew exactly how he acted. They walked slowly up to the counter. Harry noticed it really was a nice hotel, despite being small. The carpets were soft and amongst the cleanest he'd seen. The walls were spotless. The gold and crystal lamps shimmered in the soft light. Smooth classical music enhanced the mood. It was like a dream. Maybe Sirius had been here before, and knew about this place. Maybe he knew exactly where he was going. As they arrived at the counter, Sirius went into his element.

            "Good afternoon sir. How may I help you this lovely day?" Harry used all the self control he had not to burst out laughing. This guy was so fake it was unbelievable.

            "Ah, yes. The name is Sirius Mutt. I have no reservation, but I would like a small, two bedroom suite, with a mini-bar, and preferably enough room for physical training." Harry noticed another evil glimmer in Sirius's eyes. The man was a prankster waiting to happen. He finally realized why Sirius was taking a long hard look at everyone around, he was planning on who to play pranks on.

            "Yes sir." The man went to a computer and started typing things in. "Yes, we have a room available. It should have sufficient space. The room does not come with a mini-bar, but we would be more than happy to bring one up for you."

            "Thank you very much, just make sure there is milk and juice enough for my hooligan over here." Sirius nodded to Harry.

            "Ah, I did not see you young sir" he said while offering his hand to Harry, "an honor to meet you." Out of confusion Harry shook the man's hand. The man turned back to Sirius while picking up to sip his tea. "And how long would you like to stay?" Sirius was quiet, flicking fingers and what not for a few seconds. 

            "Eleven months." It was then that a shower of tea covered both Sirius and Harry. 

            "Sorry, so sorry sir!." There was a commotion as Harry sputtered in disgust. The tea covering had been in the guy's mouth. A hefty voice sounded. It could only be the manager. Harry was all the more shocked that Sirius was smiling. Broadly.

            "Harry, why don't you go the bathroom and change" Sirius said with a wink. A wink from Sirius always meant he could use magic. Sirius didn't wink a lot. A wink made Harry very happy very quickly. As soon as Harry had left, Sirius mustered the best anger face he could. He put a subtle snarl on his face. The attendant was explaining what happened to the manager. Finally the manager turned to Sirius.

            "Usually, we would give you the room for free. But in this situation, that would be a huge debt, however, we can offer you one month free, if you are willing to remain here, despite the obvious carelessness of the service presented to you" the manager said, while staring daggers at the attendant.

            "I'll accept your offer. I still want to stay. Do you still have those drinks? I forgot what they're called. I had them about, say twelve years ago. The had chocolate, and malt, and, and cream, and vanilla, and coffee, I remember it as being spectacular." Sirius knew the answer before he even finished. The manager was beaming.

            "I'm glad you remember. They're called Brown Sugars. We still are the only establishment we know of that make them. I have them often. We have them at the bar, in the near the Upper Lounge. They are a pound a pop, but in your case, you get yours for free for your entire stay. You're bill at the end will cover them, I dare say. Which brings me to my next point. We do not allow your bill to get so high without getting paid during your stay and-" The manager went on.

            "I understand perfectly. Here let me write you a cheque. It is how much a night?"

            "One hundred and thirty pounds, but you have the first thirty days free" the manager stated.

            "Right, then. So…………13,000 pounds for the first hundred and thirty days or so." Sirius scribbled out the cheque and handed it to the manager. "I don't normally write out cheques so large, but I'll be here a while, and it should go through. I have over 50,000 in that account. If there is a problem, please contact me immediately. It may mean more than just a cheque bouncing, if you understand me." The manager nodded vigorously, and handed Sirius two keys. The workmanship on the keys was actually very nice. It was how he remembered it, no detail was ever overlooked in this place. "Thank you," Sirius stated before turning to look for Harry. Harry was approaching, clean and dry, but he still looked exhausted. "Lets go shorty, you need some sleep, I can tell." Harry just followed. They went into an elevator, got out at a certain floor, and walked up to a nice door. Harry watched Sirius open the door, and vaguely looked around. He was seeing things as blurry, and was getting really tired.

            "I'm going to sleep, where's my room?" Harry said shortly. Too shortly.

            "Over there, Harry," Sirius said pointing to a far doorway, "but if you don't let me take the curses off of you, I doubt you'll get any sleep." Harry stopped in his tracks. How did Sirius know?

            "Fine," Harry grumbled. Sirius spit out a few spells, which tingled when they hit Harry. When he seemed done, Harry turned and wandered into the room. It was hard to miss the bed so he just climbed on, and in minutes, he was fast asleep.

/\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ \/

            As soon as Harry left, Sirius pulled out his cellular phone. He rarely if ever used it, and only in emergencies. He knew it would be dangerous, talking to his boss, when the aurors, would be sure to be inspecting every point in his life, including his job. He dialed the number, silently praying for the best.

            "Yeah'ello?" said the familiar voice of his boss. Sirius trusted the man with his life, and in this case, it would be literally. Maybe muggles couldn't, but magical folk could track cellular telephone calls.

            "Are you alone?" Sirius said in a low voice. There was some movement followed by the closing of a door.

            "Now I am. Where the bloody hell are you? No. Don't answer that. They have a way of making me tell them everything I know about your whereabouts. They were here. Went through all your stuff. I was told that they went through your house and took everything. I mean everything. What did you do Sirius?" Sirius was debating how much to tell him. He was always a loyal man. And he doubted the aurors would return to his office and ask more questions. Who would be so stupid to maintain contact with anyone there after being found out.

            "Just let me talk. Harry. My son Harry, he isn't really my son. (_Oh bloody crap) His parents were killed by a madman, who had been after them for a while. I was to be Harry's godfather, but everyone thought that I told the evil guy where Harry's parents lived. They came after me so I left. I took Harry with me. His other relatives all hated him, because…because…because Harry's special, and they weren't so they  hated him out of jealousy. I knew he would grow up abused so I left with him. We were happy, living in hiding, away from all the killing and hate, but I guess someone noticed him and word got out. They came again, and I had to get him. I couldn't stand to loose him, not after…his parents. So I'm sorry, and I'd like to keep working for you, but I don't see how it's possible. You were always very generous with me, and I thank you for that." Sirius finished with a sigh. He didn't think he'd say so much, but he had to get it out. The silence at the other end was killing him._

            "Alright Sirius, I believe you. But you have to know something. I've been in advertising for longer than you've been alive. You are not only the funniest man I met, but the best employee I've ever had. You know you've built this company. If you hadn't come to me nine years ago looking for a job, than this company wouldn't be half as big as we are now. Now, I would like to have you keep working for me, but, seeing as you won't come to the office, what if I sent myself up a large Box at the Post Office, and threw some materials in, could you ever, let say, stop by and pick up materials? Return them in a week, two weeks, however long it takes, with your ideas attached? Because without you, this place is gone." Sirius was caught in a dilemma. He had to take care of Harry, but how cruel was he being to just leave the man who showed him the most faith?

            "I'll do it. Just tell me where the box is, and the combination, and I'll keep working for you. No guarantees though. At any given time I may have to pick up and leave. I know I don't _owe_ you anything, but I feel bad about leaving you so quickly. I'll try to do it for you. Just leave the stuff wherever, and I'll run by and pick it up."

            "Bristol Post, box 618. Combination is 9, 4, 6. I'll have something in there for you by the end of the week."

            "Thanks mate, I'll call you soon."

            "Bye, Sirius, take care of Harry."  With a soft click, the line went dead, and Sirius Black, no, Sirius Mutt was back on the payroll of Weinmire Advertising.

/\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/

            Harry awoke and took a long look around. This place was awesome. It seemed really upscale. He wondered vaguely if Sirius could afford it. He didn't look around the night before because of exhaustion, but now all he could do was marvel at the intricate detail of the entire room. The entire suite. He wandered out into the common area, and looked for something to eat. There was a clicking of keys at the door, and it opened revealing a smiling Sirius. He was carrying a small bag which he carelessly tossed to onto the sofa. 

            "How can you be so happy this early in the morning?" Harry grumbled. His stomach did the same.

            "It's nearly noon, Harry. You slept forever. Oh, I have something you simply have to try. I didn't know if they made them any longer, but as it turns out they do. So splash some water on your face, and straighten your clothes. We're going down to the bar." Sirius was simply beaming. He seemed so happy with himself.

            "Are you going to get me drunk?" Harry said suspiciously. It's not like getting drunk would be a bad thing. Would it?

            "No, quite the contrary. Although if you could get drunk on sugar, you definitely would." The smile on Sirius's face only seemed to grow. Harry let out what he hoped would be a reluctant sigh, but deep down he was curious to see what it was. As soon as he exited the bathroom, Sirius handed Harry the spare key, and he led Harry down the elevator, and into a bar. Harry noticed there were a lot of kids in the bar. Maybe they made drinks for kids too. Sirius told the Bartender they wanted two "Brown Sugars" before they took a table in the corner. Harry was trying to figure out why they would need to go to a bar for brown sugar. He wasn't sure, but he thought they sold it in the markets, and probably less than in this place. It only took two minutes before the bus boy came with two drinks. They were a light, milk chocolaty brown, with a lighter foam on top. It looked a lot like chocolate milk with a froth.

            "Harry, I warn you. This is probably the best non-alcoholic drink in the world. And I mean it." Sirius held up his glass as if for a toast. Harry soon followed. "To getting safely away, and having eleven months to ready you for Hogwarts. Oh how much fun it'll be." Without a second thought. Sirius started chugging his drink, and didn't stop until he was halfway done. Harry wasn't so trusting. He smelled it. He couldn't name all of the smells off the top of his head, but he definitely smelled the chocolate, and if it had chocolate, how could it be evil? Harry took a sip and nearly pulled back in shock. It was incredibly good. It was sweet, but not too much so, and it was thick and creamy, and chocolaty, and had the faint flavour of coffee, as well as so many other pleasant flavors he had never had before. He decided right there that he had been deprived as a child, to not have had this before. It was heaven in a glass. Harry fixed his glasses on his nose and looked at the beverage once again, to make sure it was real. Harry followed Sirius's example and started chugging it. He finished before Sirius did.

            "Wow. Bloody amazing." Sirius nodded despite a straw hanging from his mouth. "I could go for another one" Harry said, and he almost immediately regretted it. Sirius began to signal to the barkeep. "No. Sirius, I don't want you wasting your money." Sirius looked taken aback.

            "I am not wasting my money. I earned it and I can damn well spend it as I please. Also, these drinks are free because we're going to be her for so long, so, I say, bottoms up." Sirius finished his off as the barkeep arrived with two more.

            "May I ask your name sir?" The barkeep asked.

            "Of course, Sirius Mutt, and my son Harry." The barkeep nodded understandingly. He had been told that a tall man with defined features and his son got their drinks for free. When you even looked at them, Sirius and Harry did have a vague resemblance, except for the cheeks and the eyes.

            "So what do you think?" Sirius asked Harry as Harry barely managed to finish his third.

            "This year is going to be awesome." Sirius laughed. The kid was so messed up on the sugar, there was no telling what he was going to do.

Thank you for reading, and hopefully reviewing.  **DaBear, and **Harry and Hermione's Daughter**, and **Poacher** as well. You people make me fell all white and snowy inside. In case you don't know, snow is my most favourite thing in the world, so you really have accomplished something. You actually read **AND** reviewed my experimental piece. A toast to you. This chapter is dedicated to you three. Thank you. **

Oh, and Poacher, I know of the site, and will explore it more deeply when I have the chance, between midterms (I keep talking about them, but they never seem to end) and writing, I have lost nearly all of my reading time. Thank you for finding the time to read mine. Happy Martin Luther King Day.


	3. Expecting the Unexpected

            Harry heard the click of the doorknob, and watched as Sirius walked in. He sent Harry a weak smile, and went into his room. Harry saw the anxiety on his face. Either something had happened, or something was going to happen.

            "Harry, come in here for a minute, please" Sirius called. Harry closed the book he was reading and ran his finger over the title on the cover, '_The Animagus Within.' Harry put the book carefully on the top of the stack, and wandered into Sirius's room. Harry was always amazed that Sirius could keep his room messier than Harry's. Harry took a seat on the bed as Sirius packed some of the things Harry knew as the essentials._

            "Harry, I need you to pack your things. Only the things you absolutely need. I am taking you to Diagon Ally." Harry didn't know whether to be scared or happy. He had always heard of the shops there, and always wanted to visit, but the risk of him being seen was huge, so they never went. Sirius snuck in every once in a while to pick up books. They had accumulated an excellent selection in the last four months. Harry was training everyday with Sirius. At first Harry loved it. Then, because of the excessive amount of work involved, he hated it. Now, he just accepted it, as long as he got Brown Sugars galore. Sirius always got him Brown Sugars. No one could insult Brown Sugars. Harry had gone so far as to steal and copy the recipe. Sirius had punished him by making him make them. The hotel's were much better.

            "Why?" Harry asked. He knew Sirius never took any unnecessary risks, but he was curious none-the-less.

            "You know I hate it that you use V-Vold-emort's old wand. I know this may seem paranoid, but I don't want you absorbing anything from it. We are going to get you your own wand, and if we are caught, we have to be able to move. You know more than enough magic to defend yourself from an auror or two, but not from dozens of wizarding folk. So this is a very sensitive mission. If we step out of line at all, we may end up paying heavily for it. Just pack up, and we'll leave after sunset. Therefore the place will be pretty empty. If all goes well I may take you to Flourish and Blotts, so that you may choose your own books." Harry knew Sirius was trying to think positively. It was hard for Sirius to do that, after everything he'd been through, and Harry understood that. He really owed Sirius a lot. And he'd make it up to him. Someday. 

            Harry closed his trunk and made it small. Then made it small again. And once more time. Harry was getting this magic stuff, but sometimes he just didn't have the results he wanted. He wondered if it was persistent. That some spells he just couldn't do in one swoop. He had to do the shrinking spell three times to get the same results Sirius got with one.

            "It'll come to you with experience" Sirius said from the doorway. He was smiling at Harry. He knew Harry was disappointed when he found something he couldn't do, but it only made Harry try harder. Sirius couldn't count how many nights he had found Harry asleep in his books. It was beginning to become a custom, carrying Harry to his bed, and tucking him in. 

            Harry smiled back and slipped the trunk into his pocket. He allowed Sirius to change his hair and cheeks. Sirius was allowed to change Harry's hair, only if Harry approved. Recently Harry had been going for a long black ponytail. He thought it made himself look more manly and intimidating. Sirius secretly thought Harry looked like him. Harry took the potion from the table near the door, and put one drop in each eye. Slowly, they turned from deep emerald green, to blue. Harry remembered that one time, a girl had commented that his eyes 'look like the sky is in them.' He found it amusing that even with a different color, people liked his eyes.

            Finally, Harry nearly jumping with excitement, and Sirius nearly shaking with anxiety, they ventured into the hallway, and began their descent into the lobby. As they exited the elevator, there was the loud noise of a newspaper being kicked about. Harry only stopped when he realized that Sirius was standing behind him, seemingly frozen, staring at the newspaper as it was stepped on by numerous confused looking people.

            "Harry, they can't see it, can they." It wasn't a question. Sirius stepped over and snatched the piece of paper. He walked over to a secluded sofa, and sat down. Harry followed, slightly disappointed that this would be delaying his trip to Diagon Ally. Sirius scanned the headlines, and Harry saw his face turn white. Sirius knew Harry had seen his face, and knowing Harry would find out anyway, he gave the newspaper to Harry. There was one headline which took up most of the page.

            **Preposition 1253 Approved_ by Rita Skeeter. Today, amongst cheers from nearly every wizarding establishment news came following the four month deliberation over the search for Harry Potter, the boy who lived. When merely a baby, Harry's parents were set up by death-eater Sirius Black, and when the boy managed to defeat You-Know-Who, Black took the boy as a hostage to raise him as a dark wizard. _**

_            "The affects on the boy can already be seen" says ten year veteran auror, Popum Shizert. Shizert was sent to save the boy from a muggle school four months ago, when strange activity in the area alerted them of his presence. "The boy was taught how to fight. We were not allowed to use any serious magic on him, and he knew quite a few spells. He was taught to hate us, and he wouldn't even talk to us. In only a few minutes, Black arrived in a muggle horse-less carriage, and took the boy away" Shizert explained. Only recently, has the Ministry of Magic consented to resume the search for the boy. The same search, that was stopped after one meager year of false leads and dead ends. It was assumed that the boy was either dead, or gone. _

_            With growing pressure from the public from the recent events surrounding the boy, Preposition 1253 was passed by a unanimous vote from the Board of Defensive Action. The head of the board, Cornelius Fudge announced his delight in the passing of the bill, and assures us that the boy will be found at all costs. However, judging from the effectiveness of the Ministry in the passed, can we really believe him?_

_            One variable which fits into the equation is that of Sirius Black. His deceit seems to be deeper than previously expected. His ex-lover, Cilia Green, was one of the last to know him closely before his escape into the muggle world. She said "Sirius was a good man. He took better care of Harry than anyone else could. He told me that Harry's real parents had been murdered, and being his godfather it was his responsibility to care for the boy. He never told me who did it, but in his sleep he was always screaming and flailing at Peter." This shows just how well he fibs. He not only convince his lover that he was not responsible for the Potter's deaths, he convinced poor, little Harry that he is as good of a father as he could have. _

_            Despite some speculation that Black has been teaching Harry dark arts, Shizert claimed that "All the spells he used were nicer curses than were to be expected. He had great skill with the wand, and strong magical ability, but he used mostly cheering charms, and laughing charms, and jelly legs curses. He wasn't mean at all." Perhaps there is hope still to snatch Harry from the grasp of the violent and corrupted madman, and perhaps there is hope that he is still unscathed from the evilness of the man. But all we can do is hope._

_            On another note, Black is under suspicion for the disappearance of Peter Pettigrew as well._

            Harry looked up at Sirius with wide eyes. Sirius had always told him that the magical world thought he was evil, but he never expected this. All the nice things people said about him were twisted into some evil plot, which Harry knew Sirius never had. He was kind of glad that Celia was nice about it. Harry always like Celia, and was a little put down when Sirius called it quits with her. Harry had been hoping on having a mother. Cilia was almost as fun as Sirius was. But now was not the time for reminiscing. Harry understood that it would not be the best time to enter the magical world. Harry saw Sirius watch a father and son, about his age enter the bar. 

            "Looks like we won't go after all" Harry said, doing his best to keep the disappointment from his voice.

            "Maybe not," Sirius said, "wait here." Sirius stood up and went into the bar. Harry stood up and watched through the glass window. Sirius was walking slowly to where the man and kid were. He did very well in faking tripping into the two, and then apologized and quickly exited the lounge, and entered the lobby. He walked over to Harry with a wide smile. "Give me your hand" Sirius said quickly. Harry obeyed and Sirius dropped some hair into it. "Don't drop it" he muttered, as he took out his trunk and opened it. He searched for a few seconds, before pulling out a plain empty vial with a cork, and a nicely decorated bottle. He poured some of the liquid in the bottle, into the vial, and handed it to Harry. Harry watched him put some hair in the bottle, and close it. He closed his trunk and slipped it into his pocket before turning to Harry. He took a hair out of Harry's hand and placed it in the vial, before corking it and giving it a short, sharp, shake. 

            "Hold onto it, and guard it with your life. We'll need it to get in" Sirius said. Harry nodded and placed it in his pocket. It was definitely something illegal. Sirius's spirit seemed to return full blast, and he led Harry to the underground. They took the train to a transfer, and then took a different train to another stop. Sirius and Harry got out just as the doors were closing, and they jogged up to the streets, where they both inhaled the air. They could feel they were close.

            Sirius hadn't felt the slightest twang of fear when going in on his own. He knew what he was capable of, and how to get away. However, with Harry with him, he was a wreck. Nervous beyond belief, like he was placing a steak into an alligator's mouth and asking it not to bite. It give the impression of suicide, an unnecessary risk, but he was doing it anyway. Why? He never had the balls to ask the question himself. As Sirius began to recognize the surroundings, he pulled Harry into an alley way.

            "Drink half of it now. It'll give us one hour. We only use the second part if we need to. We need to make this as quick as possible, alright?" Sirius emphasized. Harry nodded. Harry took the cork out and smelled the murky potion. He crinkled his nose. Sirius felt the same way as he tilted his head back and took one large gulp. Sirius watched Harry swallow, and turned into the boy in the bar. Sirius grinned. Not his usual grin. It didn't seem to fit his new face. "When were in there, I'll call you James, you call me Dad, alright?" Harry nodded and they took to the streets. Sirius stopped in front what appeared to be an abandoned shop. He opened the door and they both entered.

            Harry was surprised at the pub they entered. It was a lot larger on the inside than it appeared was possible from the outside. There must have been one hundred witches and wizards arguing and yelling, and laughing, and fighting. It seemed like a fun place to be. 

            "Hey mate, seems a bit young to be a drinker!" Shouted a drunk man to Sirius.

            "I'm not so sure, he can put em away faster than a Wigglyspill on the Hyscynth extract." A laugh went around the crowd and a few people patted Sirius on the shoulder. As they got deeper into the crowd, Sirius picked Harry up to stop him from being stomped on. It seemed like forever, until Sirius got them through the back door, and facing a brick wall. Harry had read about it. As Sirius searched for his wand, Harry tapped the brick he was told about in his books. The wall began to move, and changed into an archway revealing a very wide and empty avenue. Sirius snatched the wand from Harry's hand.

            "If we're getting you one, you'd be best not to have one" Sirius said. Harry reluctantly agreed, and they Hurried over to a place named _Ollivander's Wands. Harry could feel the magic coming out of the place, and nearly ran in. Sirius followed Harry in and a bell rang as the door closed behind them. An old man came out from the back. He was walking with a cane, but tossed it carelessly aside as he marched up to the boy._

            "Here for your first wand?" the man asked. Harry nodded. "Well then, let's get you measured." He took out a tape measure, and tossed it to Harry's feet. It snaked up his body and measured around his waist. Harry giggled as it measured his chest, and then arms, then wrist, then wrist to elbow, then elbow to shoulder. It was all fun and games until it measured his height. As Ollivander watched, the measure measured him two inches taller than he was in the body he was in. Ollivander looked at him clearly, and exchanged a look with Sirius. Sirius gave the best 'we have a reason' face he could muster, and Ollivander nodded slowly. He went to the shelves and started taking out boxes.

            "Unicorn hair core, oak, ten inches. Sturdy and strong. Give it a flick." Harry did and nothing happened. "Saving Tree leaf, maple, twelve inches. Quick at healing." Harry flicked it, and nothing happened. "Dragon Heartstring, Beech, thirteen inches, good for charms." Harry flicked it and nothing happened. As the pile of rejected wand grew bigger, it seemed that Ollivander got more excited. "Gryffin's Mane hair, walnut, nine and a half inches. Great for transfiguration." Ollivander said. Harry grabbed it like the rest, but this time, he felt something. The wand began to glow, but nothing came out of it.

            "Merlin's beard," Ollivander said in barely more than a whisper, "a changed life." Harry was more confused than he knew, and Sirius stood up, looking very concerned.

            "What does it mean?" Sirius demanded. They'd already wasted twenty minutes of their hour, and he didn't have time to wait for explanations.

            "This would have been your son's wand, but something in his life changed him. Something big" Ollivander said as he eyed Harry slowly. Harry felt revealed, like he was naked or something.

            "His mother died when he was one." An idea came to Sirius. "She had a wand with a phoenix feather core. James here, picked it up once, and it accepted him. Do you have a similar wand he could try?" Ollivander nodded slowly and searched the shelves for a few seconds before extracting a particularly dusty box. He took out the wand and handed it to Harry. The reaction was immediate. The wand began to glow a blinding light, and red and gold and blue sparks flew out, bouncing off the walls and onto the floor. Ollivander looked even more surprised.

            "Phoenix feather, holly, eleven inches. This phoenix had one other feather, which went into the wand that killed James and Lily Potter. I remember them well. If Harry was safe, he would be selecting his wand in seven months. A pity it is. No one knows where the poor boy is. If only I hadn't sold that wand" Ollivander said reminiscently.

            "What would you do if you ever came across that wand?" Sirius inquired. He didn't need the wand any longer. It was just a hazard.

            "Give it to the only pure man I know. Albus Dumbledore." Sirius left a few large gold coins on the table. Harry stared at them enthralled. He had never seen wizard money before. 

            "This should cover the wand. You said you would take it to Dumbledore. See that it gets there." Sirius put the slender wand on the table, and with a small pop, the two people in Mr. Ollivander's shop, were gone.

/\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/

            Harry stood up quickly. He hated portkeys. Even if it did take them only a few hundred feet. Sirius was still standing, and surveying the avenue.

            "What was that for. You didn't have to give it to him" Harry moaned. He had learned on that wand. It almost seemed like it was his.

            "It was a liability Harry. If it was found on me, it would be bad. Very bad. This was best. He probably won't even tell anyone we were there. He thinks we're kilometres away, hiding in a cave. This gives us the opportunity to go through Flourish and Blotts. You said you wanted to go there. Now's our chance." Sirius was a little paranoid, glancing over his shoulder every few seconds, gripping his wand in his pocket so tightly that it began to bend. They went into the bookstore, and Harry began to wander. Just in case he wouldn't get another chance back here, he needed to prepare for Harry going to Hogwarts.

            Harry just looked at nearly every book. When he had selected a few, he found Sirius waiting patiently at the counter.

            "How many can I get, S-Dad?" Sirius let out a small smile.

            "As many as you want." Harry smiled, dropped off his books, and ran back to get the ones which he wanted, just not as much as the others. He returned with them, and slapped them down. Sirius nodded, and gave the man a few of the gold coins as well as a few silver looking coins. The man put all the books in three different bags, and made the lighter for Harry and Sirius. Sirius thanked the man, and they left. The went back through the pub, and into the muggle underground. On the train, their potions began to wear off. Sirius had Harry hide his face behind his bags until the process was done. Sirius did the same. When they were back to normal, they let their bags down, and traveled the rest of the way back to the hotel in silence. After they entered the room, Sirius let out a huge sigh and fell into a comfortable armchair.

            "Can we do that again tomorrow?" Harry asked. When he saw the disgust on Sirius's face, he let out a laugh. "Seriously though. I do the training, and the reading, and I have behaved perfect for like, eight days…" Sirius's eyes arched, "okay, eight hours. Can't we do more stuff. I'm beginning to get bored with this hotel." Harry whined. Sirius seemed to think for a while.

            "I never thought I'd do this, bit I'm turning this into school. We'll work through the week, but on the weekends, we'll travel, see movies, play golf, that kinda stuff. Does that fit into your oh-so-busy life?" Sirius smirked.

            "Yes, thanks Sirius" Harry sang.

            "And if you're really good, I may even take you to Zonkos, in a few months" Sirius finished. Harry's eyes grew wide in excitement, and he ran forward and hugged Sirius. He was obviously pleased with the turn of events. "But right now, I'm tired, and I'm going to sleep. Go to sleep at your usual time, whenever that is" Sirius said, while he stood up. Harry slid off of him, and Sirius walked into his bedroom, closing the door. Harry noticed that Sirius left his bag of books next to the chair, on the plush red carpet. Harry opened it and looked inside, reading the titles on the binding. _Nighthawk: Keeping Your Owl Undetected. The Art of Stealth Communication. Sending a Message Without Being Found. Hiding Information: Experimental Ways of Bypassing Veritaserum. Protecting Your Kid While on the Run. Spells of Secrecy: Potions of Privacy. Finding Joy When Your Kid Leaves Home. Saying Good-bye When There May Never Be Another Hello. Laws of Magical __Britain__: A Complete Guide. Conscious Selection of Magical Communication. Harry read these with a darkening mind. Sirius thought something was going to happen. __No, Harry's mind argued, __he was just preparing for the future. He was expecting the unexpected._

Thank you, everyone, and I mean it. Thank you for reading this fic. I hope it entertained you as well as took you on a journey of fear and hope. There will be a revelation next chapter, so stay tuned. Enjoy your reading, and I hope you have time to leave a review. Tell me what you think.

**Zoot Vampiric Vampire**- Don't' you get annoyed by spelling that out. Man, it makes my fingers tired. This won't be a dark Harry fic, but it will have it's emotional ups and downs. I assure you, it won't be so bland. Harry will be much more, how do I say it, aware in this fic about his surroundings than in the real book. I figure it fits, because his entire life with Sirius, he had to be aware, so it only seems to fit. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope to update both my fics within the next, say seven days. I have 2 midterms on Tuesday, which I need to study for, and one on Thursday, so I will be busy, and I don't think I'll have time to update quickly. Thanks for reading anyway, and I hope you enjoyed it.

**Poacher**- I'm glad you're satisfied with the quality of my work, and even more glad I got you laughing. Martin Luther King was an African American, who, through the 1960's led a movement for equality for people of all races in the United States. He was relatively successful, until he was assassinated. Some believe it was his assassination which made the most progress in his quest for equality. He was a great man, and in the U.S., we have a holiday in his memory, and honor.

**NAPPA**- Not lovable? I feel violated. This is lovable, more so than a puppy. It's still a baby, only three chapters long, and you say it's not lovable. Shame on you. But, on a happy note, this will be a Harry and Hermione fic. How could it not be. They were obviously made for each other. I think it'll be funny how it happens though, because Harry's arrival at the castle, will be very, very awkward. Must I dare say more? Thanks for reading, and even more for reviewing. I really do appreciate it when people review every chapter. You get to understand them and their views better, and it allows you to tweak your fic so that you can please as many people as possible. Thanks, and happy reading.

**Hyzenthlay **and** Jarvey, thanks for speaking up as well. I appreciate you all. ******


	4. Bear Hugs

            Sirius emptied his pockets as he got ready for bed. His wallet he tossed onto the dresser. He found the newspaper sheet in his pocket too. He glanced over the newspaper a few seconds before he was going to toss it in the trash. He didn't want to be reminded of what he was accused of. He didn't want Harry facing it either. He turned the sheet over and read the title. 

            **_Hogwarts Headboy and Headgirl Contention Tight_**_ by _Selma__ Folly.___ As the sixth year students of Hogwarts near their midyear, the thought of the Headboy and Headgirl for next year comes to mind. The two top contenders for the Headboy position are Percy Weasley of Gryffindor House (pictured above with family) and Mickey McFarland of Ravenclaw house (pictured above with sister). As of now, Weasley, the son of Arthur Weasley of the Ministry of Magic, is in the lead. If he can maintain his near perfect average through the rest of his sixth year, then he shall surely get it. _

_            In the Headgirl contention, the lead is currently held by Penelope __Clearwater__ of Ravenclaw House (pictured above), however she is only marginally above Sarah Brighton of Slytherin House (pictured above in family portrait). However, neither of these ladies can slack off, as Rachel Black of Ravenclaw House (not pictured) is not far behind them._

_            With the Headboy and Headgirl achievements being some of the most difficult to acquire, we know this will be a brutal test of grade getting power. If I were to bet, which I do not, my choice for Headboy would be Mickey McFarland, and for Headgirl is Penelope __Clearwater__. However I would like to wish luck to all of the students aspiring for the badge._

Sirius thought maybe Harry should read this. Maybe see a few of the people he would be meeting in…a little over six months. Sirius glanced up to the pictures. The Clearwater girl was pretty, and the Brighton girl just looked…slutty. Too much makeup, and too much seductiveness in her smile, even in a family portrait. '_Maybe she was trying to get the painter's attention' Sirius thought. He moved on to the boys. He looked at the picture of the Mickey kid. He looked good enough. He also looked a little nerdy, but that never really stopped anyone, especially for the academic honor of Headboy. Then his eyes came across the picture of the Weasley family. It took him a second to find the one described as the candidate for Headboy. Sirius found him and froze. On the boy's shoulder was a rat. Not just any rat. Sirius knew that rat. He knew it with a vengeance. Sirius dropped the paper, and quickly sat down on his bed. He was close to loosing control. How could this happen? Sirius asked as he took the paper in his hand and read the caption to the picture, a few words from the caption of the picture caught his attention. '__…youngest son, Ronald, will be beginning his first term in September.' So Harry would be going on the train with Ronald. Harry could capture the rat. '_No, it would be too dangerous_' Sirius's mind argued. Maybe Sirius could get in and get him himself. There would be too much protection. He would tell Harry the situation, and have Harry do what Harry felt was necessary. Sirius knew that his emotions wouldn't allow for him to make a reasonable decision, but Harry had a hell of a lot more sense than Sirius ever did. Sirius's door creaked open, and Harry popped his head in._

            Harry smiled ad seeing Sirius awake, although Sirius did look exhausted, and helpless too. Was something going to happen? Did something already happen? Harry approached slowly, and Sirius put on a smile. It wasn't fake either, so Harry knew at least the world wasn't coming to an end. Harry hopped onto Sirius's bed and sat next to him. Harry passed the book he had opened onto Sirius's lap, and pointed at a word.

            "What is that?" Harry asked. Sirius looked down at the word, and traced his memory back. He was drawing a blank, so he took a look at the cover of the book. _Becoming an Animagus_. That was all the remembering Sirius needed.

            "Whistliffle Potion, Harry. It makes you see your own thoughts like your traveling through your brain. It remembers it, and when it's done, it tells you what animal you're most like. It's and introspective potion. That means it has you looked deep inside your heart and mind to see who you really are. If you really want to become an animagi, than I could go and get some of the potion next week." Sirius explained. Harry sent him a grin that was all he needed to see. Harry slid off the bed, and said a good-night before leaving and closing the door behind him. Sirius took one more glance at the newspaper, before putting it on his dresser with his wallet, and laying down to sleep. For once, he was entirely sure that he made the right decision. Harry brought more happiness into his life than killing Peter ever would have.

/\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ 

            Harry sat staring at Sirius with a crinkled nose, and a face of doubt. Sirius had spent over a month trying to locate the potion, and when he couldn't Sirius made it himself. Harry knew how Sirius was at cooking. Anything other than breakfast food and sandwiches, and it was hardly edible. Yet here Harry sat, with the dilemma of taking the potion Sirius concocted, and risking his precious life, or of hurting Sirius's feeling and saying he didn't want any of it. With a sudden resolve, Harry pinched his nose shut, and tipped his head back. He poured it in his mouth and swallowed. It actually didn't taste that bad. Then Harry opened his nose, and the flavor became so terrible, he knew he was going to vomit. He keeled over, but Sirius was there tom help him up.

            "Just relax Harry, it'll only take a few minutes" Sirius said with an unsure grin on his face. He didn't know if Harry was old enough or strong enough to take such demanding potions, but Harry had insisted, and he was sure he'd got the potion right. He had made it more times than he could remember, for himself, James, and…and Peter. Harry slumped suddenly into the armchair he was in. Sirius knew that this would take an hour or so, but he refused to leave the boy. He had to be there for him.

            The time went by slowly, but Sirius watched with growing anticipation and anxiety. Waiting for any sign that Harry was coming out of his unconscious. Sirius became worried after two hours. Harry was still knocked out. He was trying to decide whether to take Harry to the hospital or not. He was still breathing, and his pulse was strong. His eyes were darting from place to place like they should have. Sirius couldn't find anything wrong, except that Harry was still out after two hours. A sudden moan from Harry broke Sirius's panic. He dashed to the boy's side, a feeble smile on his face.

            Harry was smiling despite his falling eyelids. "Wow" Harry said. It was all that needed to be said. Sirius dashed to the gigantic roll of paper he got at a teacher supply store. He unrolled twenty feet of it, and laid it out on the floor. He picked up Harry and brought him to his hands and knees. He took Harry's right hand and held it against the paper. You never knew which one would be the clearest. Harry was obviously exhausted, but this had to be done. There was a short glow from Harry's hand. More of a flash, really. Sirius picked Harry's hand up and purposely ignored the mark it left. He put Harry's hand in a new place, and waited for the flash. It happened. This continued for nearly fifteen minutes, with a flash nearly ever ten seconds. After Sirius was positive that Harry's projections were done, He lifted the boy and lay him softly on the sofa. The boy groaned, but was soon breathing slowly and deeply. He was sleeping. Now Sirius let himself analyze the hundreds of prints on the roll of paper. He started from the first one which just looked like a blob of brown. He looked at them in sequential order, until he came across a clear one. It was close to the beginning, so Sirius would go through all of them first before he found which one Harry really was. Sometimes the shapes looked like an animal, but really weren't. Sirius circled all the clear one he could find, and then cut them out and placed them on the coffee table. The first looked very much like a bear. A large brown one. The next looked like a black panther. The next looked like, could it be? A monkey. A bloody monkey. Sirius would never have guessed it, but he must have know deep down inside. Sirius continued. A hippopotamus. A small bird, perhaps a sparrow. This was wrong. Five defined, clear shapes. Maybe he was tired, because he definitely couldn't be seeing this. Sirius rubbed his eyes and lay down on the sofa across from Harry's. He would just have to do this in the morning.

/\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/

            Harry watched. There was nothing he could do or say. He just watched. He took note of every single movement Sirius made. Sirius, on the other hand, and one eye close, and the other was looking through a magnifying glass. He was looking at every single shape in great detail, trying, but unable to disqualify any of them. Finally Sirius sat back in the sofa, and caught Harry's eyes. 

            "What do you want me to do, they all look real. I don't have any idea what I'm doing" Sirius said, Harry was more last than he was. But the thought always lingered, what if he had multiple Animagus shapes. It wasn't altogether unheard of. "Harry, pass me your book, will you?" Harry did as he was asked, and Sirius went down the table of contents, before turning to the back of the book. He started reading it aloud.

            "_Two is a very rare number for number of animagi. Three, four and five are much more common. Only the most powerful wizards and witches have five. And few have mastered more than one. Although no known person has ever recorded or proven multiple shapes, circumstantial evidence points very strongly to the possibility. An example is that once, a person was imprisoned in their shape of a lizard. They were seen exiting as a squirrel, and left an unclimbable, and an undiggable pen, suggesting flight. Some come up with other explanations, but in the opinion of many wise witches and wizards, they are quite fanciful and unrealistic. However, under ordinance 12-5 of the animagus sanctioned laws, a multiple animagus only has to register one of their shapes, furthering the difficulty in locating one." Sirius finished. "It looks like you're powerful, but that's no biggie. I've known that a long time. For now I'm going to assume that all five are yours. Which one do you want to learn first?"_

            Harry was deep in thought. So he was so powerful that he could have more than one shape? That was cool. But what shape would he most want to learn. Which one would let him go around with Sirius on a late night romp through Hogsmeade? The bear. No, the panther. It was between the bear and the panther. He had to look at it logically. The bear was stronger, yes. Both could climb trees. The panther was more agile, yes. Bears could run pretty fast. He didn't know about panthers. They could see well in the dark. Bears could swim. Panther's could hide well. Bear could roar, and they were big. Panthers could roar, and they were quick. Harry was beginning to give himself a headache. 

            "I'll become a bear first, and then a panther immediately after that" Harry said in a bold voice. 

            "You're lucky you've got a good trainer. You know I was the first of your father and his friends to achieve a full animagus form? Yup, I was able to get my way into the Ravenclaw dormitories. You don't want to know what dozens of sexually frustrated smart-girls will do to a guy they find in their dorms. That was very well the best night of my life. Of course I was almost expelled, but I think it was that Dumbledore was laughing so hysterically during the hearing, that no one could really blame me. I was lucky they never discovered how I got in." Sirius was smiling like a goof, and Harry was shaking his head. He understood sex since third grade. He had a relative idea of what it was and how to do it, and then he walked in on Sirius and Gwen. Gwen was very attractive. She mad Harry feel nervous and funny inside. She didn't like Harry very much, that he was sure about, and although Sirius denied it, that was why he left her. 

            "When do we start?" Harry asked.

            "Right now."

/\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/

            Harry checked the calendar behind the birdcage. July first, exactly two months till departure. Harry was busy turning his arms and legs into those of a bear. Sirius was bent over slides from an upcoming advertisement. Harry was beginning to get bored with his arms and legs. Sirius wouldn't let him continue until he mastered them, which to Sirius meant it had to be faster than the blink of an eye. Harry was just a little too slow, but was now going against his tutor. Harry tried his torso as well, and there he was the body of a bear, the head of a ten year old boy. The sofa sagged under his newfound weight, but Harry turned back. He was ready to go all the way. 

            There was a long, drawn out, pop, and the sharp creak of wood, and shriek of springs. Sirius looked up from his work and was taken aback. A huge creature, which bare fit in the bloody room was staring at him, smiling if it was possible.

            "HARRY!!! WHAT IN BLOODY HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!!!" Sirius yelled. The bear smiled even bigger, and let out a loud but friendly roar. More like a laugh, really. The creature walked carefully over to Sirius and opened it's mouth to it's widest, before wrapping its mouth around Sirius's head. It just fit. The bear backed off and with another lengthy pop of about half a second, where the bear was, was a boy of black hair and deep emerald eyes. He was laughing beyond control.

            "If…you only…saw the…look…on your…face!" Harry whispered while gasping for air. Sirius was busy wiping Harry's drool off his face.

            "It wasn't funny Harry. Do you know how dangerous that was?" Sirius said, as he tossed the tissue into the trash and made for another one.

            "Awww, c'mon,. I wasn't really going to bite you" Harry said.

            "It wasn't your mouth. You shouldn't be ready to fully transform for at least another month" Sirius said. It was just now that the shock entered him Harry had fully transformed. The kid was amazing.

            "Well, I had to get it soon, otherwise how am I going to be able to do a panther too before I go to Hogwarts?" As soon as Harry said that, he knew it changed the conversation. Sirius's eyes became dull, and his face solemn.

            "Fine. You win, but you already know how to do everything. Do the panther now. Start from the beginning, and work your way through. You'll do fine" Sirius turned back to his work, but Harry could tell he wasn't doing it.

            "If you don't want me to go to Hogwarts, I won't. I'd learn faster with you anyway" Harry said. It hurt to say it. He did really want to go, but he didn't want to make Sirius sad, and Sirius was more important than some school. "If your worried about me going, than I won't" Harry said. Sirius turned to him, this would be Sirius's response so he was wise to hold onto every word.

            "No, I want you to go. You need to go. Sending you isn't going to be hard, and you'd love it there, the only problem with our plan is getting you back." Harry just looked confused. "Sneaking you into the train is simple. And I would get away and find a place to hide. But they will know who you are by the end of the year, and the Ministry will watch your every move, and wait until you see me. Then they will take me away, and you will go to your Aunt's house to live." Sirius looked very grave, like he was loosing everything. Harry sat down and thought. He watched the time tick away as he thought about every aspect of getting back to Sirius.

            "What if I steal the Marauders Map from Filch, or whoever has his office. And then, the night before we come back, I go out of the castle and meet you in the shrieking shack, in Hogsmeade. We can leave from there. I don't need to take the train back. And from there we can take a portkey, or brooms to wherever you're living, and that way, when the aurors come to watch me, I'll already be gone. No one would know how I did it, so I could keep doing it. And we'd be okay. Can you find your way to Hogsmeade?" Harry asked. During his thought his excitement had grown, and he was practically bouncing in his seat.

            "For you? Blindfolded with my legs tied" Sirius said through a wide grin. "James always was the brilliant one, it's good to know he passed it down to you-" Sirius was cut short as Harry hit him with a hard hug. "You're going to love it there. I swear it to you. Now, you start on the panther. You know how to do it, and you know you can do it, so it shouldn't take more than a few months, especially since you managed a bear in five. So, I'll keep working on protecting Mercury for us, and then I'll come and see how you're doing, alright?" Sirius said, the glint in his eye had returned. Harry beamed at him and opened the animagus book back to the beginning pages. He was going to do this all over again. 

/\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/

            The two months passed quickly. It seemed that the more they tried to slow down the time, the faster it went. They had packed their things, paid their way in the hotel, and sat with their luggage in the bar, having one last 'Brown Sugar' before they departed. Harry was eyeing his trunk. He so wanted to try out his birthday present from Sirius. Sirius made him keep it hidden in a pocket of Harry's trunk that only Harry could open. In it was a brand new Nimbus 2000. Harry was told he couldn't be caught with it, or Dumbledore would have it taken away, but Sirius had told him most of the passages, and Harry knew how to get out to the Quidditch pitch so he could try it in the dark of the night. Harry desperately wanted to see a quidditch game played. He read about them, and Sirius describe some of the best he'd seen. To say Harry was eager to go to Hogwarts was an understatement. 

            "Take good care of Mercury. I put all the protective charms I could find on that bird. Treat her well, I think she likes you a lot anyway." Harry smiled at Sirius's remark. The silver owl was named after the god Mercury, or Hermes in Greek. It fit well because of the silver luster of the owl, she looked like a metal. "We should go now, we don't want to miss the train" Sirius said. They rose, and it was surprising that Sirius went back over to the bar. 

            "Oye, lad, over here." Sirius called to the bartender. The bartender sighed and made his way over. "Look, I know I haven't tipped yeh at all, but I wasn't paying for the drinks so it didn't matter. However, since we're leaving in a few, I just wanted to say thank you, and express it with a monetary amount." Harry saw Sirius put down five twenty pound notes. "Have a good one, mate" Sirius said. He put the money in the barkeep's pocket, and he and Harry left. They said their good-byes to all the friendly people at the front desk. One of the attractive young ladies threw Harry a wink, but she looked sad to see them go. No, to see Sirius go. They took the elevator down to the garage, and hopped into the Acura NSX. Sirius didn't want to, but he felt that he had to get rid of the Corvette, so he got a more expensive and better performing vehicle. Plus, it did turn a few heads, especially when they pulled up to Kings Cross Station. Harry noticed a number of oddly dressed people, and could only guess that they were wizards. Sirius changed his hair color to green, and his eyes to purple, on the assumption that the more of a spectacle he made, the less suspicious people would be of him. He helped Harry load up his stuff, and they made their way to the pillar. There was a short line, which quickly went into the wall. Harry went slowly, strolling alongside Sirius, until he went into the wall, and came out at station 9 and ¾. Harry grinned like the silly boy he should have been, and looked all the way up and down the track. A blond haired who Harry assumed would be in his year was throwing a tantrum to his mother and father. Harry couldn't hear it, but the mother looked at Sirius and she blushed. Her husband didn't notice, but Harry was sure that if he did, there would have been severe consequences. At least that was the feeling he got from him. 

            "Alright. You have the note for Dumbledore (Harry nodded)? Good. What about the one for Remus (Harry nodded)? Good, remember to send it with a school owl as soon as you get a chance. What is your name going to be?" Sirius asked.

            "Harry Mutton." Harry said. Sirius was visually taken aback. "I just think that Mutt makes me sound like a dog or something. Mutton just works better, and I'll go without a middle name. Not everyone needs one" Harry said. Sirius rolled his eyes like a little kid. Harry loved it when Sirius acted foolish.

            "And what house do you want to be in?" Harry jumped at the strange voice. It was the blonde who had the kid with the tantrum. She was talking to him, while eyeing Sirius. Harry had to fight to hold in the snort which was threatening to explode his head.

            "Gryffindor, of course" Harry said.

            "Really? I wish my son would go for Gryffindor, but my heart tells me he will end up in Slytherin" She said. Harry detected some venom in her voice, and was sure to remember this woman.

            "My name's Harry Mutton" Harry said, while holding out his hand. The woman smiled at his antics, and held out her.

            "Adriana Malfoy" She laughed. Harry, instead of shaking her hand, brought to his mouth and placed a kiss on her knuckles. She let out a laugh. Sirius looked uncomfortably at the person upon hearing her name, and looked at Harry with bewilderment.

            "What are you doing?" Sirius asked Harry, trying to keep calm.

            "Only what you always do" Harry said. Sirius was about to respond and say that he didn't, which was the truth.

            "So your father is quiet the gentleman then. I like gentlemen" she said. Harry knew where this was going, and so did Sirius, the only different was that Sirius didn't like it. She winked to Sirius.

            "So what's your name" She said to Sirius. He was at a loss. He didn't expect to have to give his name.

            "I'd rather not say. My wife's in politics" Harry could hear the voices in Sirius's head celebrating, shouting 'great comeback.' Adriana Malfoy's face fell a little. 

            "Well, if you ever would like to come by for coffee, or anything else, just call first." Before Sirius could respond, she wandered back over to her husband, whole was staring at many of the kids with hate. How could anyone hate kids? Harry suspected that was the reason the lady had been making herself known to Sirius.

            "Do me a favor Harry, and never go hanging out with Malfoy and his crew. They only mean dark magic" Harry nodded. His brain kept telling him that it would be the ultimate insult to the kid if he could say that Sirius was, intimate, with her. Harry just kept that little thought to himself. He knew about the Malfoys, but Adriana, she seemed alright. The whistle blew, announcing that there were only a few minutes left before departure. Sirius bent down and gave Harry a big hug. Harry saw the woman from before watching them, with softness, and sadness. As if she longed to be a part of their teeny tiny family. Harry couldn't help but blush at the thought that she thought they had a good life. Well, it was a good life, but all lives have their share of pain and woes. After Sirius finally let Harry go, he wiped away a tear.

            "I may visit you sometime. You know what to look for, a big black hairy son-of-a-bitch. You just be careful, and watch your back. Don't go after Wormtail unless he is in no position to hurt you. If you're ever in danger, go to Dumbledore. He's a very wise, and understanding man. He knows what's best. I would trust him with my life, and I would hope you would too. Just try your best. Do most of your work, and don't get in too much trouble. You'll have a great time. I love you" Sirius was crying at the end. He gave Harry one final hug, and helped him get his trunk onto the train. "I'll see you soon Harry. I swear I will." Sirius called, as the train whistled one long whistle, and the steam began to exit the stack, signaling the journey was beginning. "Remember to write!" Sirius called as the train began to move. 

            "I WILL!" Harry yelled as the rumbling of the train grew. He waved frantically to Sirius, who stood there, and Harry now knew why he would miss him so much. Sirius was all alone.

One more out. I can't believe it. I'm on a roll. Ok. Here goes. Harry is now off on the journey of his life, and Sirius, poor Sirius, is left all alone, to live through images of a Malfoy going through his head. Anyone notice that she wanted Draco to go into Gryffindor? I don't know where I came up with that, so don't ask. Thanks for reading, and I do hope you leave a review. You notice, as I keep getting reviews, I keep posting new chapters. Perhaps there is a relationship between reviews and updates. Scary, isn't it. Now. To thank all of my wonderful reviewers.

**Jarvey**- Glad you liked the Ollivander's scene. I think I did it a little off from the mood of the original, and also I think mine was not a real and wholesome, but if people liked it, than I guess I'll survive. Thanks for reviewing.

**DaBear**- The walnut wand would have been Harry's but something big in his life changed that. Can anyone say 'boy-who-lived?' Thanks for reviewing. I supposed you like his animagus shape. Lemme know what you think.

**cyberfrogX**- I think you'll like his entrance. It'll be very shocking, so shocking that everyone is going to be so silent, they're going to be able to hear Trelawney yakking all the way up in her little tower. Thanks for reviewing.

**Zoot Vampiric Vampire**- Alright. Sirius knows that having Voldie's wand is a liability, so he gives it away. Harry gets the other phoenix feather wand. The Gryffin's mane would have been Harry's had he never been subjected to the attack at Godric's hollow. They are eleven bloody years old, there won't be intercourse. It is for language and violence yet to come. Thanks for reviewing.

**Time Twins**- I suppose this chapter answers your question. Thanks for reviewing.

**Poacher**- I am a Matrix Mechanical Human. What gave it away? I like being original, though I do know that this story has been done before, and probably will be done again, so my originality is a bit overrated, if you ask me. Yawar, thanks for telling me what you think. Have a good one.

**Harry and Hermione's Daughter**- Glad you loved it. Hope to please you with more soon. Thanks for reviewing.

**Fopalup**- Yes, I do see differences in Harry don't I? It is a blessing and a curse. You don't want to be in my head when I read the books. I look at every little detail to try to find out JKR's master plan. Some of the ideas I get are so off, that it's just crazy. I'm glad you like the way I portrayed him, and I appreciate your review. 

**I hope to have another chapter out as soon as I get out two more for my other fic. If you haven't read it, I think a couple of people may recommend it. I personally like this one a little better, even if it is a lot shorter as of now. Happy reading everyone.**


	5. Standing Out

            Harry turned around and found himself near the middle of the train. It seemed crowded toward the front, so he made his trunk small, this time in only two tries, and started wandering towards the rear of the train. He saw two older students looking at him weirdly. He didn't know why.

            "You know that it's illegal to do magic outside of Hogwarts, right?" one of the students said. 

            "Oh, yeah. That's right, I forgot. I'm sorry. I promise to do it more discretely from now on." Whatever they expected Harry to say, that wasn't it. Harry ignored them and continued on his trek to find a compartment which had an available seat. As he neared the end, he found a compartment where a bunch of four girls were chatting amiably, and a slightly overweight boy was standing in the doorway. 

            "Are you sure no one has seen my toad?" the boy said, obviously distraught. He looked as if he was on the verge of tears. Some people got attached to animals, what are you going to do?

            "I believe I saw a toad near the middle of the train. About this big, baize, with a brown wart on its back?" Harry said. The boy nodded and ran off very quickly up the length of the train. Harry turned and smiled at the girls.

            "You can join us" one of the girls said. Upon closer inspection Harry saw she had a twin. But there were already five girls in the compartment, and not much space. Plus Harry wanted to practice turning into his panther. He was so close last time. He just couldn't get the face. But there was no time to think about that now.

            "I wouldn't want to intrude" Harry said politely as he kept moving. He finally reached the end of the train, and with a hopeful look on his face, he opened the door to an empty compartment. He silently thanked god, and slid in. He tossed his matchbox sized trunk onto the seat, and tried to transform. He got fur on his face, just his face bones wouldn't move into the right position. He went back into his human form and tried again. He noticed with his improved eyesight as a panther, that the doorknob began to turn. He let out a soft snarl and leapt into the door, stopping it from opening. A girl on the other side made a grunting sound as he heard her fall over. He turned back into his human form immediately and opened the door. A girl who he assumed was a first year like him was lying on the ground with a large trunk. 

            "Terribly sorry" Harry said while lifting her up onto her feet. She was flushed with embarrassment. "I was just reaching for the door when you opened it. A thousand apologies" Harry continued. The girl had a mass of honey brown hair, and large brown eyes. It reminded him of that stone which used to be tree sap or something. He'd seen it on the tele one night.

            "It's alright. I really don't know whether I was the one at fault or not" She said in a soft voice. Harry saw her wince as she touched her wrist

            "Are you hurt?" Harry asked while looking at her wrist, it seemed a little red, but nothing looked broken.

            "Just a measly rug burn" She said while she kept touching it and wincing.

            "Come in here, I can fix it up for you" Harry said while guiding her into his compartment. He pulled her trunk in behind him and closed the door. She said a warm thank you, and she quickly regained a smile. It faded as Harry took her arm in his hand, and pulled out his wand.

            "What- what are you doing?" She asked in a worried voice.

            "Well, how else do you expect me to do it?" Harry asked. He couldn't help himself from smiling at her.

            "You're not allowed to do magic outside Hogwarts" she whispered as if she said it too loud she'd get in trouble.

            "Can I let you in on a little secret?" Harry asked her, she nodded. "I've been doing magic for most of the last year, and I haven't gotten in trouble yet, so don't worry about me. If anything happens, I'll take the blame, I swear it." Harry finished with his winning smile. Whenever Sirius couldn't get anything from a woman, he always sent Harry to do it. Sirius always joked that Harry could charm the scales off a snake. That wasn't a pleasing thought, but when Sirius sometimes said that Harry could charm the clothes off a woman, that usually made Harry pay attention.

            The girl seemed a little unsure. "Do you even know what spell to use?" She asked. She hadn't gotten to her '_Medical Maladies_' book yet, but she was sure it was going to be her next one.

            "Yes. When you spend ten or so months running from people in a hotel, who, incidentally, you recently played a small joke on, you learn the spell quickly" Harry smiled. He put his wand above her skin, and she became very tense. "Relax, otherwise it may turn into a particularly nasty bruise. Just relax" he began to rub her arm gently. She nodded and closed her eyes. She listened intently as he muttered a few words. She didn't really feel anything, but when she touched her wrist, the burn was gone.

            "Wow," she said wide-eyed. Harry only smiled. "I didn't think it was going to work" she said rubbing her wrist, waiting for the pain to return.

            "I take it that you're muggle born" Harry said. She tilted her head, vaguely resembling a confused dog.

            "Oh, oh muggle born. Yes, both of my parents are muggles, as the books say. Is that a bad thing?" She asked, all of a sudden very panicked.

            "Not at all, it only means that you have a little farther to go to make the grade. You'll do fine though, I'm sure" Harry said. "What house do you want to be in?" Harry said. He felt so goofy. He'd never really talked to anyone his age before. He was secluded in school because he was quick, so the teachers made him work out of the textbooks. He was also known for his pranks on people who bothered him, so people left him alone, afraid to get on his bad side. 

            "Um, well I read _Hogwarts: A History_, and from what the books says, I think I would do well in Ravenclaw, but I suppose Gryffindor wouldn't be so bad either" she explained. Harry nodded in understanding. 

            "I want to be in Gryffindor. Both of my parents went there. Oh, by the way, I'm Harry"

            "I'm so sorry to have been so rude as to not introduce myself. Hermione Granger. Thank you for letting me in your compartment. Another minute with the empty head I was with and I would have grown dumb" she stated while examining his face. "Where'd you get that?" she asked while tracing his scar. He liked the way her finger felt.

            "From a car accident. My parents died in it when I was one, I came away with this scar" Harry said. It was what Sirius had told him to say. Shit, he was supposed to say that he _and _his father had survived. Damn, he had been too comfortable. He hadn't been thinking. He was such an idiot.

            "I'm so sorry. I didn't think that wizards would be hurt in… so, since your parents are, you know, who do you live with?" she didn't want to make him uncomfortable, he supposed she noticed his uneasiness.

            "With my godfather. He's a wizard too, a spanking good one at that, but we lived in the muggle world for the most part. He didn't want to stay in the magical world, and I don't blame him" Harry said. Hermione seemed to buy it. "So, you read _Hogwarts: A History? I did too. I found it a bit boring and drawn out. Had it not been written so well I don't think I would have finished it" Harry finished. This making friends part wasn't so hard._

            "Oh, I loved it. It was very informative. I can't wait to start searching for the hidden passages, and there are so many secrets in it, I would be happy to just wander the halls, if the book is at all accurate with its description. However, I really wanted an owl to be able to talk to my parents, but I was foolish enough to tell them that Hogwarts had school owls I could use. So they wouldn't get me one. I can't wait to send out my first letter" Hermione said her, voice full of excitement.

            "When you go to send it, tell me and I'll come along. I have a letter to send myself" Harry described.

            "Already?" she asked.

            "Yeah, I couldn't often send out letters when living in a muggle world. Besides, this is a very important letter, and I need a reliable owl" Harry said while he looked to the last car of the train, which housed the owls. He couldn't send Mercury. Mercury was only to be used between himself and Sirius, no exceptions.

            "Who is it to?" Hermione asked. He could judge from her questions this was a smart one, wanting to know everything. Harry just learned everything because he had to, she actually wanted to.

            "I shouldn't say" Harry watched her face fall. "But, I can tell you it is a friend of my Godfather's" she seemed to beam to be trusted with such sensitive information. Harry didn't know why he trusted her, but she seemed nice enough. The door opened up, and Harry and Hermione both realized how close together they were. The slid apart as a conceited looking blonde boy walked in with two large and lopsided looking kids. 

            "Who're you?" He asked blandly, staring like ice at Harry.

            "Why, of course you may enter our compartment here. Don't even ask" Harry said, getting a giggle from Hermione. "And since you're entering our compartment, shouldn't you introduce yourself first, but wait, I already know who you are, Draco Malfoy. I know a bit about Malfoys, nearly all of them turn out dark. Your father was way up in Voldemort's ring wasn't he?" Malfoy's two goons stared with their eyes agape and stepped back in fear. Malfoy just quivered. "I know all about you and your quest to rid the world of everyone but the purebloods. Next time you come in here, you'd better have a decent attitude, and a better demeanor. I personally don't like people who have make up for their small genitalia by picking on others. Especially when those people are spoiled little children. So why don't you leave here, and don't come back." Harry never had to raise his voice, he never even needed to stand up. His unmoved face was all that was needed. The boy stepped back and closed the door. Harry let out a sigh.

            "Do you know him?" Hermione asked. If the questions ever ended he would think something was wrong.

            "I know of him. The genitalia remark I have to admit I stole from my Godfather" Harry returned to his chipper face and looked back at her. She was a cute girl. He would be afraid to take her to see Sirius. Sirius would say things that would make Dumbledore blush.

            "Who is Voldemort?" Hermione asked, "I've never heard him mentioned before." She saw Harry's face loose its smile, but she was glad to see his eyes still glowed. They were very green, like those crystals in some of her parent's jewelry.

            "Yes you have. Every calls him You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Everyone is still afraid of him. If you don't want to stand out as a target, I suggest you do the same. I just grew up calling him Voldemort. You saw how white they got when I said his name. He was the darkest wizard in modern times. Killed muggles and muggle-born wizards and witches alike. Even pureblooded wizards and witches who got in his way" Harry said solemnly.

            "What happened to him?" Hermione asked. A grin flashed across Harry's face before he turned towards the window. She saw his face become very sad in the reflection. 

            "He went to kill a family. The Potters. He killed the father, and the mother, but the baby somehow stopped him, and the curse he used rebounded, and killed him. Many don't think he's really gone, me being one of them, and they still fear him. The baby was kidnapped by one of his followers, and no one know what happened to him" Harry turned back to her his face more calm and composed. "His name was Harry Potter, and is if he's still alive." She could tell from his eyes that his thoughts were going differently. He was hiding something, but she left it at that.

            She quickly changed the subject to the classes they would be taking. Hermione remembered that family members usually were in the same houses, so Harry was probably going to become a Gryffindor. He described the houses to her from the real life description he'd gotten from his Godfather. Her opinion began to lean more toward Gryffindor, especially if he was going there. She did notice, however, that h never mentioned the name of his Godfather, always referring to him as 'my Godfather.' She knew, despite only knowing him for a few hours, that he was holding back. Harry looked around and outside the window. 

            "We should be getting into our robes now, I expect we'll arrive soon. Do you want to go first?" Harry asked. He was getting hungry. Hermione had mentioned before that a kind lady was rolling a trolley around with sweets. She never stopped at his compartment. Hermione nodded, and Harry stepped out of the compartment closing the door behind him. He looked up the train and saw that the boy had indeed found his toad. They were feeding it jelly beans, as they appeared, and the toad was very content to hop around after them. Two knocks on the door told him she was done. He entered and smiled at her.

            "Do I look alright?" she asked anxiously.

            "You look just like a first year witch, I have no complaints" Harry said kindly. He liked this girl, and secretly wished they would end up in the same house. He wanted Gryffindor, and from what he understood from her intelligence and reading habits, she was Ravenclaw all the way.

            "I suppose I should leave and let you change" She muttered as she put a few more things back into her trunk. He should have guessed that it was perfectly organized.

            "It doesn't matter to me, I'm only taking off my shirt, there's nothing to see, and not much to hide either" He said as he tossed off his shirt. Out of respect she turned away, but she couldn't help from blushing. "I'm done, see? No damage" Harry stated. She turned around, and he was amused by her slight blush. She looked cute. 

            As if on cue, the train lurched a little as it slowed down. Harry tossed his shirt into his trunk. He would attempt to neaten things up later. As the train drew to a stop, Harry made his trunk small and pocketed it. There was a booming voice outside.

            "Firs' years follow me. Firs' years over here. Leave yer trunks on the train. They'll be taken up by themselves. Firs' years over here…" The voice yelled. Harry wasn't about to trust anyone to his trunk, and slipped it in his pocket. He followed Hermione out of the compartment and out to the station. They flocked over to a gigantic man, white a beard large enough to hide a Christmas turkey. Thinking of Christmas turkey made Harry sick. Every year Sirius would get the biggest turkey he could find, and they would eat the leftovers for weeks. Harry was convinced he would never eat turkey again. Harry huddled next to Hermione around the giant of a man. Harry noticed a few of them noticed each other. Maybe they were friends from before Hogwarts. He guessed this much and followed the man down a short path a little away from the hissing train. 

            "Welcome, firs' years te Hogwarts. We'll be taken the boats 'cross. Hurry up and don't git stuck behind, don' wanna be late fer yer sortin', now do we" The man said. He seemed jolly enough. Harry saw the glimmer of pride he had in his job. He wondered if this was a professor. They suddenly came across a beach with a number of small boats. Harry helped Hermione in before hopping in himself. A red haired boy entered their boat too. He seemed a bit upset that all the other boats were filled. They sat and watched in wonder as they rounded a peninsula to come into full view of the castle in all its majesty. Its lights twinkled on the lake like stars flickering in the sky. The navy blue behind the black castle created a godly silhouette which Harry could only describe with awe. Sirius was right; '_as soon as you round that rock and the castle comes into view, you forget about anything else. It truly is a magical place._' Harry was suddenly very glad to have such a good mentor. And father. They continued towards the cliffs, and Harry saw a thick growth of vines. Something that thick was hiding something. No sooner had he had the thought than the vines lifted, allowing the boats to go into a cave, which took them to an underground beach, complete with a staircase up, into the castle. Harry leapt out and help Hermione get out. She stumbled a little on the sand, but he didn't let her fall, and she whispered a thank you as if the cool dripping sound of the cave was not meant to be disturbed. He followed her up the stairs until they came to a stern looking old woman with a lit wand. In the flickering light of the torches, she looked very mysterious. 

            "I am Professor McGonagal, Head of Gryffindor House, Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In a few moments we will enter the Sorting  Ceremony. I expect that you all will behave properly during the entire ceremony, and I hope you enjoy your stay. I will come back in a few moments to get you. Do not, under any circumstances leave the places you are standing" She said, before turning, sliding through the doorway, leaving them in the torchlight.

            "I heard we have to wrestle a troll" said one very anxious girl.

            "It's a hat. All we have to do is put on a hat, it'll tell us where to go. Don't worry about it, I assure you it's painful, I mean, painless" Harry said. Hermione saw him wink at her. Many of the other students started panicking more. It was very amusing to watch. Suddenly, the door opened revealing the silhouette of the professor.

            "Follow me" she stated firmly. They all obeyed. They crossed, what Harry assumed, was the Entrance Hall, by the large double doors. They went to another pair of smaller double doors, and entered into a room larger than was possible with such thin stone walls. Everyone was marveling at the starlit ceiling, reflecting the sky. Harry still had to find a way out of the sorting, so his mind was occupied as they stopped near the front of the hall, in front of the teachers table. The professor pulled out a stool with an old, patched, and dirty hat. She tapped it with her wand and it began to sing a song. Harry didn't pay attention. He was too busy trying to formulate a plan in his head. He sensed that someone was watching him, and he met their gaze. It was the Headmaster with his sparkling blue eyes. He was indeed staring at the one child who instead of paying attention to the song was obviously deep in thought. As the song ended, and the professor took out a book, knowing he had to do this before the sorting, he took action. 

            "Now, to begin the sorting-" Professor McGonagal started, and stopped as one of the first years walked up onto the elevated box, but instead of going for the hat went right up to the Headmaster. There was a wave of confusion as the boy walked out from his place in the crowd of first years. It was simply unheard of. He didn't want everyone to hear, but in the growing silence, he had no choice.

            "I need to speak with you, alone" Harry said, as respectfully as he could to the man with a really long white beard.

            "Surely this can wait until after the Sorting Ceremony, my dear boy" Dumbledore said. The stone-like gaze of this boy was beginning to make even him feel awkward.

            "No, it can't. If it waits, I may have to leave" Harry said. He knew he was getting confused glances from everyone, especially Hermione, but now was not the time to be worrying about his social life. Dumbledore was now very confused, and looked to all of his colleagues, who just shrugged. He sighed and stood up.

            "I apologize for the delay, but it seems I have important business to attend to. I humbly ask you all to sit still until I return, shortly" The man said. He could even make an apology feel like warm butter. The Headmaster signaled for Harry to come along.

            "She should come too" Harry said pointing to Professor McGonagal. Dumbledore waved for her to come too, and they entered a door near the side of the staff table. Harry waited until they were in and shut the door. To say he was nervous was an understatement. 

            "Now, my dear boy, what is so important that you needed to see me immediately?" Dumbledore asked.

            "How many first years are there here, including myself?" Harry asked in return.

            "Twenty five" the professor said.

            "That doesn't strike you as strange?" Harry asked Dumbledore. Dumbledore shook his head wondering what the boy was getting at.

            "How many names are down for this year, Professor?" Harry asked McGonagal.

            "Twenty five" she said. Her annoyance was getting the better of her.

            "Can you please read those names?" Harry asked politely. She consented after a nod from the Headmaster She finished the list quickly and Harry stared Dumbledore in the eyes. Dumbledore was quite surprised by the confidence the child had. He would not be fooled with.

            "There is one name on that list, which stands out doesn't it?" Harry said. A look of shock crossed the Deputy Headmistress's face. Dumbledore looked doubtful.

            "So you say you are Mr. Potter?" Dumbledore asked as he took a seat next to Professor McGonagal. 

            "In the flesh" Harry said while taking a mock bow. "Oh, I almost forgot. Sirius wanted me to give this to you" Harry said while handing Dumbledore a sealed envelope. Dumbledore started to open it.

            "It could be a trap!" McGonagal said firmly. "You never know what Black would do" She spat. Harry walked forward and snatched the letter he had just given to Dumbledore. Dumbledore was taken aback.

            "If you think he booby trapped it, I'll open it. Sirius wouldn't get anything from hurting Dumbledore, I mean the Headmaster. His death list is very short" Harry explained while breaking the wax seal.

            "Really, and do you know the contents of that list?" Dumbledore said innocently. Harry knew he was pressing for information.

            "Of course, he tells me nearly everything. How do you think I learned to protect myself" McGonagal started to scoff, but stopped as soon as she found a wand in her face. "He taught me how to draw quickly. Speed is everything in a getaway. Oh, his list. The first named is Peter Pettigrew, but I'm sure the letter will explain that, next is Voldemort, (McGonagal shivered), that goes without saying. Next is Hitler. It turns out that Sirius's grandparents were stuck in Germany during the Holocaust, and they happened to be Jewish. And last is Severus Snape, but Sirius never mentioned why. I think it has something to do about the time Sirius went here." Harry said as he handed the open letter to Dumbledore. Dumbledore adjusted his half moon spectacles and read, mumbling to himself as he went along. Occasionally he lifted his eyebrows. He finished quickly. Harry was amazed at the man's reading speed.

            "Tell me, Harry why didn't Sirius come forward after the night your parents died?" Dumbledore asked.

            "Because who would have believed him? He said that you, Moony (Dumbledore raised his eyebrows), Remus Lupin, and a few others were told that he was the secret keeper. Peter disappeared, because no one would believe Sirius, but if Peter was caught, then he could easily be indicted. So Sirius took me and ran. We spent the last eleven months together. He taught me tons of stuff. Oh, did you get Voldemort's (McGonagal cringed again) wand. Ollivander said he'd send it to you" Harry said.

            "Yes I received it, he also told me the strange parameters in which he acquired it. Am I to guess it was you and Sirius, under disguise?" 

            "Yup, Polyjuice potion. I hated the taste of the stuff. Went down like old chunky oatmeal. Nasty, really. Anyway, so he decided I had to come here, and I did. And don't ask, I have no idea where he is, he is off gallivanting across the country until the school year ends. Oh, and he didn't teach me dark magic. He really avoided exposing me to dark magic. That was the entire reason he took me to Diagon Ally to get me my own wand. He didn't want me using Voldemort's (McGonagal looked away to hide her cringe). I hope I didn't miss telling you anything. Oh yeah, I made you stop the sorting because I don't want to be sorted as Harry Potter. The entire ministry will come after me and try to get him if you make me get sorted that way. If you could just write me in that nice little book as Harry Mutton, I would be very happy indeed" Harry said. He noticed that the Professor looked violated at suggesting they alter the book. Dumbledore looked pensive. He was looking at Harry very carefully.

            "You do have Lily's eyes, and you look very much like James. It seems that you could only be their son. However, this is what grabs my attention, yet I do not know why" Dumbledore said while pointing at Harry's scar.

            "Sirius said I had it on me when he found me. He thinks I got it from stopping Voldemort. Something about dark magic, even when it fails, always leaves a mark." Harry wondered why this made Dumbledore smile.

            "It is nice to know that he remembers some of the things I taught him" Dumbledore said with his gleaming smile.

            "He said he'd trust you with his life, but only you. That's why he never came to see you. He knew that someone would talk, and we'd get separated" Harry described. 

            "Well now, I believe that you are indeed, Harry James Potter, and I will have you sorted under the name of Harry Mutton. However, we will speak later, at a more convenient time about this. I do not wish to keep the students waiting any longer." With those words Dumbledore stood up, and led them out into the Great Hall. The quiet tension was heavy, but Harry shook it off as he took his place amongst the other first years. 

            "What was that all about?" Hermione asked as he stood next to her.

            "Nothing too important" Harry responded. It was another lie, but she could tell from what she knew of him that he only lied for a good reason. The sorting started, and students began being sorted. Harry ignored much of the proceedings until 'Granger, Hermione' was called. He smiled at her as she anxious grinned at him and went up to put the hat on. It was silent for about two minutes. Harry sensed it was one of the longer sorting times.

            "Gryffindor" echoed throughout the Hall as she took the hat off and went over to the table which was standing and waving to her. She sent a smile over to Harry and Harry returned it with glee. He turned his attention back to is own thoughts. In reality he was trying to figure out what Dumbledore would ask him. He had to know what his answers were beforehand.

            "Malfoy, Draco" The hat yelled. Harry knew he didn't need to see this. He knew it already. Almost as soon as the hat covered the boy's head, it shouted out "Slytherin!" Harry saw the Headmistress look unsurely to the Headmaster, who signaled for her to go on. 

            "Mutton, Harry." Harry wasn't expecting to be called so soon. He had forgotten that his alias last name started with an M. He walked up and grinned as he heard the words being muttered around the Hall. "That's the kid!" "He's the one who stopped the sorting" "Trouble, he is."

            Hermione listened to the conversation between a few of the boys seated near her. "I hope he doesn't come to Gryffindor." One said. He looked older than the other two, and the other two appeared to be twins. All three had blazing red hair. 

            "Come off it Perce, he's a troublemaker if I ever saw one" said one of the twins.

            "Yeah, we need a prodigy to pass the gift down to. I really like the kid" said the other twin.

            "You don't even know him" said the eldest.

            "But he stopped the entire sorting, we never even had the courage to try that one. I'd like him even if he followed You-Know-Who" said the first twin. The second nodded in agreement. Hermione turned back to the sorting. Harry seemed to be taking a while.

            Meanwhile, under the hat, the conversation went a little bit like this.

            "My, my, Mr. Potter, nice to finally meet you" the hat said.

            "No way, the pleasure's all mine" Harry thought. 

            "Well, now, where should we put you? You have a desire to learn, a strong trait of the Ravenclaw's-" the hat began.

            "Wait, don't the Ravenclaws study to get good marks?" Harry asked in his head.

            "Yes-"

            "I think I'll do more damage to them than good. What else do you have for me?" Harry asked. Sirius told him to enjoy it, and that was exactly what Harry was going to do.

            "You wouldn't really suit Hufflepuff-" The hat continued.

            "Why? Am I not good enough for the Hufflepuffs? Why can't I be a Hufflepuff?" Harry pressed.

            "I suppose you could go with Hufflepuff if you really want to. The choice is yours in the end. I just feel you have too strong of a personality to be in Hufflepuff, however upon further evaluation, you do have that hardworking nature-" the hat attempted to move on.

            "Good, I'd like to think I'd fit in anywhere. So what's the next deal you're going to present me with?" Harry asked.

            "Well, you could be great in Slytherin-" 

            "Great? At what? Murder? Torture? Purebloodedness? You seem to have really terrible taste. I don't you have the qualifications to guide me into my future house. You make me sick" Harry thought. He thought he almost heard a groan from the hat.

            "And then, there's Gryffindor-" the hat said, its enthusiasm replaced with sighs.

            "You say it like it's a bad thing. Is it a bad thing? Is Gryffindor boring? Arrogant? Tell me, you pretty little fedora. What's Gryffindor like?" Harry knew he was putting the hat over the edge.

            "Gryffindor is great. It is the perfect house. You'd love it. I swear" The hat said, going to any means to end this.

            "Sure sounds great" Harry thought back. 

            "GRYFFINDOR!!!" the hat screamed before Harry could change his mind. Harry stood up and handed the hat to Professor McGonagal, before strolling over to the table where everything was red. 

            After the ceremony was over, Professor McGonagal took her seat next to Dumbledore.

            "I know it doesn't mean anything that he went into Gryffindor, but I can't help but feel that it is very important that he got there" she turned away in humiliation when she realized she contradicted herself. 

            "I can't help but agree with you, Minerva" Dumbledore said with a grin. The food appeared on all the tables.

            Harry sat down next to Hermione and turned to speak with her when she was pushed to the side and a very excited boy. Another one who looked identical took the seat to the other side of him.

            "Fred-"

            "And George Weasley"

            "At your service" they said alternating between themselves.

            "We're third years"

            "And we couldn't help but notice"

            "Your incredible skill with jokes"

            "Wonderful job, old chap"

            "Now, if you need any help"

            "Finding secret passages"

            "Finding pretty girls"

            "Playing pranks"

            "Playing with people's heads"

            "Just come to us." Harry took this in very quickly.

            "How many passages do you guys know?" Harry asked. They exchanged a look.

            "Lots"

            "Lots and lots"

            "More than you thought existed" they said.

            "Does filch still work here?" Harry asked.

            "Yes" they said simultaneously.

            "Right, so am I right in guessing you stole the Marauder's map from him?" Harry said quietly but with enough punch to have one of them step backward tripping over Hermione and falling over.

            "Who told you?" They asked together. It was weird, like talking to one person with two faces. He didn't know which one to look at.

            "Well you're what? Fourth years?" Harry asked.

            "Third" they said together.

            "Good. Well I naturally assumed that you weren't old enough to have found all the passages on your own, so I assumed you stole the map. I'd like to see it when I have a chance. My father and godfather both helped write it. Padfoot and Prongs, if you need to know. My dad is dead, but if you lend it to me, I can send it to my Godfather and he could copy it for you, that way you each have one, and I get one too. Plus there are some passages they never added. It needs to be edited. If you ever want to know about it, just come and ask. I should be available after dinner. We can talk a little then. I'd like to eat now, though. I'm simply famished" Harry said with a kind smile. The boys looked at him wide-eyed, and walked off. As they passed Percy, shock still on their faces, he just had to ask.

            "So, what do you think of him?" Percy asked, on his way over to see the boy and other first years himself.

            "He-" Fred started.

            "Is God" George finished. With that they sat down to have some of their own dinner. Harry barely listened as Dumbledore spoke about the Forbidden Forest, and something about the corridor on the third floor. Something about death. Nothing too important. Finally the feast ended, and everyone followed Percy Weasley, as he introduced himself, up to the Gryffindor Common Room.

Thanks for reading. Want more of this? Leave a review. Thanks to everyone who does, and did, and will.

**Liedral**- Yes, Malfoy's mom is Narcissa. I needed someone very different in personality in my fic, and just changing her traits, people still would have thought of the Malfoy from JKR's books. I needed someone totally different, so, being an AU, I changed her name, and character. Sorry for any confusion.

**DaBear**- Yup, I had to do a monkey. If there were going to be multiple animagus shapes, and humor was a big part of Harry's persona, I had to give him an amusing animal. A monkey fit perfectly. I couldn't think of any other animal, other than a dog, that had a sense of humor. I explained the whole Narcissa thing in Liedral's response^ it's up there. Hope you liked the chapter.

**Adam Johnson**- Yup, Hermione and Harry have now met. And what a pair they'll make. I'm glad you enjoy the fic.

**Jarvey**- Glad to see you're still around reading and reviewing, nice to see ya.

**Nappa**- Happy to see your name in the Reviewer's box once again. I hope this chapter gives you as much heartwarming pleasure.

**Poacher**- Who ever said Adrianna was in Slytherin? Of course it'll have an effect on Ron. Ron isn't going to be the same guy in my fic. I personally (don't hold it against me) dislike Ron. He and Harry will have some troubles to work through. It took Harry five months to become an animagus. Five months of straight training. From then on, everything else becomes easier. Delighted to see you again. Hope you enjoyed this one.

**Quis**- No, I am not the first with the general idea, although I am pretty sure my plot and characters are unique. As there are so many thousands of fics out there, it is nearly impossible to have an entirely unique fic. I hope this is rare enough to gain acclaim from reviewers.

**Time Twins**- Harry's hair isn't green, it was Sirius who made his own hair green. I know about Narcissa. I have my explanation in my response to Liedral up there^. 

**Everyone, thanks for reviewing. I hope to have another chapter out soon. Drop me a review and I swear I'll work extra hard for all of you. Thanks for your support, and Happy reading.**


	6. Lessons

            Harry looked around as all of the students marched behind Percy. He was pointing and naming everything. Everyone was absolutely shocked and delighted by the purely magical environment they were in. Harry was looking for a way out. He wanted to get to the owlery and send the letter to Moony as soon as possible. Otherwise, he knew that he was known to forget important things. He noticed a statue of a wizard with a three pronged peg for a foot. "Winter" Hutchins, lost his foot in the cold of the winter of 1548. Keyword, wooden leg. In latin, _Cupressus cruris. _

            Hermione was looking around with wide eyes, until her eyes fell on Harry. Everyone was pointing out things to everyone else, to their friends, but she had no one to show things to, and no one was showing her anything. As she watched Harry, she remembered the event before the sorting. What was he hiding? Who was he? He just seemed so…mysterious. She had to stifle a giggle at the thought. She watched as he walked strangely close to a statue they were passing. No one saw him but her. He put his wand against it, and muttered a quick word she didn't hear, and he went into the stone. She gasped and got the attention of a few, wanting to know what she'd seen that was so amazing, she just randomly pointed at the ceiling. Everyone started looking at it. She examined the rock he had gone into, and found it perfectly solid, She wanted to examine it more carefully, but everyone was pushing her along and she worried that he may never make it to the common room. 

/\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/

            Harry stood up and brushed off his clothes. He secretly wondered if Fred and George were watching him now. He let his eyes open wide at his own stupidity. The had the map. They would see him on it. They would know who he was. SHIT! His mind yelled. Well if they saw him now then he might as well deliver the letter. All he could hope for was that they hadn't unpacked it yet. Harry, fueled by self-loathing and adrenaline, made quick time to the owlery. He listened carefully as he heard soft voices. 

            "But we've tried before, Albus. Our owls can't find him." A feminine voice said. It reminded Harry of…

            "Minerva, If you were as loving a parent as Harry claims Sirius is, then you would have to have at least one reliable way of communicating with him. Yes, our owls cannot find him, but why would he get Harry an owl if the owl couldn't reach him?" Harry heard the thoughtful silence. "I am sure Mr. Potter won't mind that I borrow his owl to find out more details about Harry's education."

            "Don't you think Harry would be a more reliable source, less likely to lie?" She pressed. Harry was gaining a growing dislike of this professor. 

            "Assuming this letter gets to Sirius, then he will know that Harry is Harry, and lying will not help him at all. In fact, it would only hurt him. Everything will be confirmed by Harry, making it legitimate and honor worthy. Then we will be able to understand his story, and better understand everything since that night. This is a shock to both of us." Harry heard the old man hoot softly, and a rustling of wings. An owl hooted in response. "Yes, Mercury. I understand you were meant only for Harry, but this is very important for the welfare of your master. You know I am a friend of the owls, and a member of the heavenly council. I can be trusted." There was a soft rustling of papers, and then Harry heard the rustling of wings as a bird took flight. "There, Minerva. I feel this is the best path to be on. Sleep well, we have classes tomorrow." Harry heard the sound of footsteps descending in the tower. One set of footsteps. Did he stay, or did he exit another way? Was he there to trap him? Punish him? Was he there at all? Harry let this argument go on for a few minutes. He was about to bite the bullet and enter when he finally heard the light shuffling of feet. He was leaving, he was finally bloody leaving. Thank god.

            Harry crept out slowly and found the nearest school owl which was actually awake. He took a treat from the box on the shelf and gave it to the bird.

            "Take this to Remus Lupin please" The owl hooted softly before flying out the window, and into the night sky. Harry looked out and made sure he saw Sirius clearly. He said goodnight, before turning to the exit and following the steps of Dumbledore and McGonagal. He counted. Twenty five. Twenty six. Good. It was step twenty six and twenty two. As he stretched and kept his feet on each step, slowly, oh so slowly, a door appeared and opened. As soon as it was large enough for Harry to fit in, He slid in and watched it close. That passage hadn't been used in so long it was beginning to seal itself. Why would anyone let that happen? This was the only passageway in the bloody school to give access to all four house common rooms without knowing the password to enter. 

            He walked down the hallway until he came to a small, circular room with five halls. The one he came out of, and four of different colors. There was a small fire burning in the center of the room, giving enough light o distinguish between the halls. He took the red one, and jogged down it. He kind of wished he still played football. He didn't even bring his ball with him. He had played on a team in the league Sirius had put him in before they had to leave for London. He was a Sweeper, and despite not looking like a big, burly, and mean person, he had gotten himself a bit of a reputation for throwing his weight around. The parents always said that he was the reason they did so well. His team was second place two years in a row. It had been fun. Harry kept his hand running along the wall to find his way in the intense darkness. He knew it was going to be a bit of a trip, going straight from the owlery to the Gryffindor Common Room. He knew what it looked like from Sirius, but he had never been there, unless his dreams counted. He finally bumped into a wall and shook off the pain as he returned to his feet.

/\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/

            How could he know absolutely where the statue was? Or even he words to open it? Had he been to Hogwarts before? _His Godfather could have told him _her mind argued. Sometimes she wished it wouldn't argue with itself. It only made things confusing. But the fact that besides the ride on the train... forget it, even the ride on the train was peculiar. He was such a strange person, obviously hiding something, but obviously knowing a lot more than he let on. He knew something about the twins who had so rudely pushed her aside. He knew magic enough to cure her burn, to change his trunk, to get into the secret passage, to disappear without being noticed. _But you noticed him_. Yes, but…I was looking she said back. 

A sudden thump on the wall brought her back to attention. She had come down to the common room, despite her exhaustion to wait for Harry, and to sift through her thoughts. She thought the noise had come from a rather large portrait of Godric Gryffindor above the hearth. She waited and watched, and quickly convinced herself that she hadn't heard anything at all. She turned her eyes back to the mirror so she could watch the fire without straining to turn her head. She went back into her deep thoughts, but her eyes caught movement and she turned to see Harry Mutton brushing dust of his backside. He turned and saw her.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!?!" They both said in hoarse whispers. She stumbled to her feet, almost losing balance on her sleeping limbs. Harry's eyes were looking over her suspiciously.

"Tell me first before you pop out of thin air!" She said not unkindly, but she was clearly upset. She saw the look on his face relax a bit, and he smiled.

"Looks like we scared each other evenly. I'd say no one owes anyone any kind of an unreasonable explanation, therefore we can both go to sleep and ignore this little incident" he said with an unsure smile. He was halfway to the base of the stairs to the boys dormitories when she finally understood what he said. He saw the look of realization on her face and knew he wouldn't be getting away so easily. So far she had been nice enough not to ask, but now he was being blatantly suspicious. Here would come the questions.

"Not so fast, buster" she said, using the word her father always used on her cousins when they visited. "Where were you?" She asked while crossing her arms across her chest. The yawn she let out made her look anything but intimidating. 

"The owlery. I had to send a letter, and recent events would let it wait" he said quickly. She vaguely remembered him saying something on the train about sending a letter.

"Right, and you knew how to get in the passage…" she said looking at him meaningfully.

"Yes" he said, feeling a little confused.

"No, I mean how did you know where and how to get in the passage?" she pushed and she stepped forward.

"Oh, my Godfather told me how" he said with his most charming smile. She felt her cheeks begin to flush.

"I thought you'd say that. And what's your godfather's name?" She was pleased to see him hesitate like he was making up a name, but his look turned quickly into suspicion, clear suspicion as he looked at her.

"Snuffleupagus" he said slowly. That name hit a nerve. She knew she'd heard the name before. He saw her contemplating it, and had to step in before it hit her. "It's Greek. He was named after his great-great-grandfather" Harry said. He could tell by the change of expression on her face that he was successful.

"Yes, that sounds Greek doesn't it. My mum read me a bit of Greek plays. I probably heard the name there" She smiled, but she tried to put back he dominating face but she was too tired to try. "Goodnight then" she said as she turned to go up the stairs to her dormitory. She felt a warm hand wrap around her arm and turn her around.

"Not so fast, sleeping beauty, why were you down here at this ungodly hour?" she blushed, and he attributed it to him calling her sleeping beauty. 

"I, was, um, thinking about stuff" she said nervously as she tried to turn back and go up the stairs, he didn't let go.

"Really? It sounds interesting, what kind of stuff?" he whispered as if it were a secret. She knew he was toying with her, but for some reason she didn't mind. She just had to find a way of responding without telling him the total truth. Bingo. 

"About all the secrets of this castle. When you disappeared into the wall it got me thinking, and I stayed up to think about it a little more" she said while trying to look bold. She could tell he didn't believe her, but he was generous enough to let her go, and with a soft goodnight, he jogged up the stairs to the boy's dormitories. She whispered goodnight to his retreating form, and wearily scaled the steps to her own waiting, soft, bed.

/\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/

            "Transfiguration is one of the most difficult and dangerous forms of magic. Anyone fooling around or taking unnecessary risks will leave this classroom and will not return…" Harry rolled his eyes. She gave the same speech every year, and she had yet to throw anyone out of her classroom. Harry turned to Hermione. She had taken the seat next to him and was white with fear. 

            "…Now, I'm sure you all glanced in your textbook to see how the wand is to be handled while doing transfiguration, so I expect the warm-up will be quick and uneventful. Near the end of class, we will see if any of you have the control to actually turn this match into needle. On a final note, Slytherins and Gryffindors are infamous for their dislike of each other. You will keep the fight between you outside of my classroom or…" Harry tuned her out and looked at his pathetic match. He decided to make sure he could still de-react things as he used to. With a short fizzing sound the match ignited and Harry blew it out. He noticed that he caught the attention of a number of students, including Hermione. She was once again looking at him strangely. To show what he was doing he flicked his wand and the flame returned to the tip of the match, but it burned itself out leaving the red tip which was once there.

            "If you feel the need to show off your experience with magic Mr., Mr…"

            "Mutton" Harry put in.

            "Yes Mutton, If you feel the need to show your illegal experience with magic, than would you please refrain from distracting the other students who need to learn this." McGonagal belted out. Harry nodded in respect and went back to staring out the window. It was warm outside, and he kind of wished he could take his broom out for a test flight. Oh to feel the wind in his face, cruising faster than any automobile…

            "Mutton!" McGonagal shouted as she slammed a large book onto his desk. Harry jumped back and looked around. All the students were giggling at him. He noticed they had broken into groups and were working on trying to turn their matches into needles. "Will you at least pay attention? Surely you could learn a thing or too from your teachers." Her voice was crisp and sharp, it was biting at his ears. Harry pulled out his wand and with a flick his match had turned into a needle. She looked at him appraisingly as he turned it back. Then he did it again, only this time there were four needles where the match had been.

            "Impressive, Mr. Mutton" she said as he turned the four needles into four matches. Then he turned the four matches into four needles each, gaining sixteen needles. The he turned them all back to matches. Then to 48 needles, then to matches, then to 192 needles, then to matches, then to 768 needles. He stopped and looked up at her. A small crowd had formed around him. He could tell McGonagal was frustrated. He had already mastered the principle.

            "I hope you have a way to dispose of this mess" she said shortly. He liked that she was clearly annoyed, because he had done it without doing anything wrong. He summed up his thoughts, and with sudden realization, he flicked his wand once more, and all of the 768 needles disappeared, leaving one, lone, match. "Very well, twenty points to Gryffindor for studying ahead. What about you miss Granger? Any luck?" 

            Harry saw her go pale, as if she'd do something wrong. She tried to respond but stuttered terribly and decided to focus on her match. She flicked her wand, and it turned into metal. She sighed as McGonagal turned it back into a normal match. 

            "So very close miss Granger. Why don't you try again? I'm sure you'll have it this time." Despite the encouraging word use, the tone was not nearly as encouraging. Hermione took in a deep breath, closed her eyes, and then opened them before flicking her wand and trying once more. The match turned into a needle of perfect proportions. She smiled unsurely, and to everyone's dismay, the professor smiled back. "Well done, Hermione. Twenty points to Gryffindor. AH! I see Mr. Malfoy has come quite close. It could be a bit thinner, but I won't hold that against you. Twenty points to Slytherin. Anyone else manage it?" No hands went up. "Well then, off to your next classes. I believe Gryffindors have History of Magic with the Hufflepuffs, and Slytherins have Herbology with the Ravenclaws. Go on now, don't be late." Harry threw all of his stuff messily into his rucksack and waited patiently as Hermione put everything perfectly and neatly into hers. They left together. The Malfoy boy was joking with the Slytherins about how the Gryffindors got stuck with the Hufflepuffs. Harry ignored it quite well.

            "Am I to guess your Godfather-" She began as they started down the hallway.

            "Yup, he taught me a lot. Didn't want me to get left behind, so he made sure I stayed far ahead" Harry said. There was a half truth to this statement, so he was able to tell it honestly, and she accepted it. 

            "I'm afraid to say it, but I feel that History of magic will not be the most exciting class" she said, begging for his increased knowledge to tell her differently.

            "You're right. It's about as boring as it can get. I changed it on my schedule, as you can see." He held up his schedule to her, and she read down it before laughing slightly. In the perfect penmanship on his schedule, where she supposed it once said History of Magic, Professor Binns, instead it was written Naptime, Professor Binns. Harry liked her laugh, it was quiet and melodious. Not like the harsh chortles of Malfoy as they echoed through the halls. Her laughs and giggles seemed to just stay around her, and it was fascinating.

            "You have quite the sense of humor" she said as her giggles diminished.

            "Yes, well, I suppose I get it from-"  he began.

            "Your Godfather. I know" she giggled again. He felt his cheeks becoming warm, and was pleased to see that they had made it unscathed to the History of Magic classroom.

/\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ 

            "Next is… flying lessons with Madame Hooch" Hermione said anxiously as Harry snapped quickly from his groggy form.

            "Really?" He asked, and she could only nod as the thought turned her stomach. She couldn't figure out why he could be so happy about it. "But it's with Slytherin, isn't it?" Harry asked. She nodded again. "Don't worry about them, I'll make sure they don't get to out of hand" He quickly swallowed his words when they arrived to find Malfoy standing aggressively close to Ronald Weasley. Harry had had a few words with the Weasley boy the night before. It turned out that Weasley wanted to start some sort of club in which they'd undertake certain "missions" against Slytherins. Harry turned down the proposition, not because the idea was bad, but because he didn't think that Weasley had what it takes to make real trouble and get away, an honestly, Harry rather preferred working alone.

            "I could tell you were a Weasley before you even arrived at the station. So many children your parents can barely afford to feed you, and that disgusting red hair. I could smell your poor family miles away" Malfoy said with a grin. He knew he was getting on the boy's nerves. 

            "Bugger off you…" Weasley began.

            "What? Not smart enough to find a decent insult?" Malfoy taunted. Harry stepped in just as Weasley launched for Malfoy. Harry used his left arm to stop Ronald and push him backwards. He stumbled and fell onto the ground amidst giggles from everyone. 

            "Don't do it Weasley, you'll just loose us some house points" Harry said in explanation. This didn't quell weasley's wrath.

            "Yeah Weasel, you might get a decent animal if you can manage one or two house points" Malfoy said. Harry pulled back and with one swift movement that few could trace, Malfoy was flat on the ground, blood coming out of his nose. This, however, did quell Ron's anger, and he stood up steadying himself on Dean. Harry pinned Malfoy by putting his knee on  the boy's chest and putting his wand in the boy's face.

            "Let this be a lesson to you, Malfoy. I know a lot of things that you don't, I know who you are and what you stand for, and I will not tolerate any of your propaganda bull crap in front of me or anyone else. Is that clear?" Malfoy nodded quickly. Harry muttered _abscondus_. He got off of Malfoy and returned to a crowd of shocked Gryffindors. Malfoy stood up, wondering where the blood went. He wasn't bleeding, and after asking a few people, he realized there wasn't a mark on him. 

            "He attacked me, Mutton attacked me, you all saw it!" Malfoy cried.

            "Malfoy, Malfoy, Malfoy, your father has been in so many trials that I'd hoped you'd have realized this by now. Witnesses are one thing, and evidence is entirely another, You have no evidence, and your witnesses will be countered by my witnesses, who'll say that it was Crabbe who did that to you, although accidentally. You'll still feel the pain even though the wounds are gone, so enjoy it. I warned you." Harry said slowly. Malfoy was enraged. He turned to his two cronies.

            "Get him!" He said to them. They started at him, and they increased speed as they ran at him. Hermione watched fearfully as they neared him. Harry smiled and stepped towards them. It was weird indeed, but they both hit him sooner than they'd expected, and they stumbled over him and fell to the ground taking him with them. They heard a shrill yell, and a woman with yellow eyes and a strict demeanor stepped forward.

            "Both of you, off of him! I will not tolerate any fighting in this lesson! Twenty points from Slytherin, from each of you." There was a mumbling of dislike amongst the Slytherins. The Gryffindors were smiling, as Harry stood up and brushed himself off. He was grinning as well, much to Malfoy's chagrin. "Get in your lines! Stand next to a broom!" Harry turned to find an available broom, and found that he couldn't take one next to Hermione, as they were all taken except for one, which looked particularly bent and damaged. Harry sighed and walked over to it, just his luck to get the worst broom. He waited for the lesson to go on, and when she finally began letting them start, he looked down at his broom with pity. 

He didn't realize he was making a scene until Malfoy called out "Mutton's got the broken broom." Harry realized he was the only person not to get their broom up, for lack of trying, but decided to give it a go and was pleasantly surprised when it made it all the way to his hand only losing about a quarter of the twigs in the back. He mounted like everyone else, but just before they were to lift off, a fellow Gryffindor, Neville, Harry thought his name was, left the ground and started an uncontrolled ascent. His broom was bucking irregularly until he crashed into the wall of the stands of the quidditch pitch. There was a sickening crack of splintering wood as the boy fell about twenty feet onto the soft ground. He managed to stagger to his feet as the crowd rushed over. He was bleeding above his eye, and his broom was destroyed. Madame hooch turned on the class.

"Put your brooms down. I am taking Longbottom to the Hospital Wing. If I see anyone on a broom, you will be expelled before you can pack" she said as she made a stretcher for the boy and had him lay down on it. They left briskly, heading for the large double doors of Hogwarts.

"Hah, the weeping loaf dropped his stupid wand. Probably filled with pixie dust. Mine has the Dragon Heartstring of and Finnish Firetooth, I'd to know if any of you beat that?" Malfoy said arrogantly, but his smile faded as Harry stepped forward. 

"I have a Phoenix feather" Harry said softly, but everyone heard anyway.

"So, a dragon is more powerful than a Phoenix" Malfoy quipped.

"I know, but my feather is from the same Phoenix Voldemort's wand feather came from" All of the pureblooded wizards gasped and stepped back. Malfoy again looked scared. How did this kid know the contents of You-Know-Who's wand? "Now, give me Neville's wand, or I'll take it from you."

"I'd like to see you try. Why don't I leave it somewhere for him, like… in the lake?" Malfoy mounted his broom and took off. Harry mounted his but was stopped by a strong grip on his shoulder. He turned to see Hermione.

"Don't do it, he just wants to trick you into loosing house points!" Hermione pleaded. Her words did nothing to his expression, and he gently brushed her hand off of him and on his bent and scarred broom, he followed at a speed which made the old broom very unstable. His mind made note of how natural flying seemed, but he just focused on Malfoy, who in his fear and surprise of being followed so quickly, was swerving dangerously. Harry saw him raise the wand in question above his head, and throw it down as they passed over the lake. Harry debated whether to go for the wand or go for the boy, but he saw more value in recovering the wand. Who knew how deep the lake was. 

Harry dove after it and followed it with eagle like eyesight. He was getting close to it, but it was nearing the water right near the shore. He stretched his arm and is hand wrapped around the this piece of wood. He tried to pull up but the broom wasn't responding as well as he had hoped. His toes struck a stone and the wand flew from his grasp. The collision also pointed him downwards as he eared the water's edge. The broom and his legs struck the ground and he was catapulted forward as if he had dove from the broom. His shoulder hit a jagged rock sending him in a helicopter spin, until he landed in the lake. Being a distance from the lake it took nearly an entire minute for all of the students to make it to the water side. Harry was nowhere to be found. There was the clatter of feet as Professor McGonagal came up and pushed her way through the students. Her face went white as she noticed the missing face from the students. 

"What happened here?" Her words hung heavily on the silence of the dazed class.

I am very excited to get so much feedback from all of you. Sorry I was on like a 2 week hiatus, but everything got a bit crazy for me. Way too many people to respond to all of my beloved reviewers, but I will take some of the questions and answer them here.

1. Harry has a sense of humor, and likes to see people confused and insecure. Part of why he really hates Malfoy.

2. He and Hermione are going to develop as really close friends, but they're 11 years old, they're going to stay Friends for a while.

3. The weasley twins are going to be very important in this story, because it will show how Harry reacts with those he considers his equals.

4. Ron will be more of a neutral character. We'll love him and hate him, in turn. We will begin to see more of him. I hope you enjoyed his little tussle with Malfoy

5. If you like Malfoy or snape you may want to stop reading, because I plan on bashing them within an inch of their lives, and then bashing some more. I despise them both, and I feel it will show through. 

6. Harry may seem a little arrogant, but he will only be arrogant against Malfoy. Give him a taste of his own medicine.

Thank you all for reading and reviewing, if you like spend five minutes and tell me so. Have a wonderful day.__


	7. Testing the Waters

            Everything became a blur to Hermione. Harry had just gone head-first into the water, and he hadn't come up. She didn't know how long it had been, but it felt like hours. In the time most of the professors had shown up including the Headmaster, who above everyone else appeared worried. Malfoy was being screamed at by Professor McGonagal and Dumbledore was doing countless spells on the water, she assumed to try to recover Harry. She was shocked, no doubt, but she really didn't know him well enough to really have any strong feelings for him. She wondered what would happen if he did die. Would she cry? Would she really care? She would be sympathetic to the family, of course, but how would she react? It was an awkward thought. Was she obligated to be sad and cry, even if she didn't really feel like crying?

            There was a loud crash as a huge wave came off the lake, as if a huge plunger had just been used. Hermione watched as Dumbledore collapsed on his rump and sighed. Professor McGonagal came over, her face was white.

            "What happened?" she pressed.

            "I have tried everything I know. He is too deep for me, and it has been too long. I'm sorry Minerva. If anyone ever really knew the magnitude of this loss. I fear we must tell his Godfather." Dumbledore said with his voice quiet and sad. He was visibly tired and appeared much older than he had before. The deputy headmistress sniffled loudly as Dumbledore started shrieking softly. Hermione turned to the boy Neville who had come out with the rush of professors. He was looking at Dumbledore with renewed awe.

            "What is it?" Hermione asked, her voice void of emotion, she was too exhausted to put any into it.

            "He can talk to mermaids!" Neville said in a kind of gasp. Hermione took note that mermaids really existed, as she went back to watching. She lost her motivation to research. Knowing everything wasn't important right now. There was a bubbling in the lake and everyone watched with intense tension. But nothing happened and they all returned to their glum state. Dumbledore kept shrieking for a few minutes. She guessed that it took a while for the Mermaids to arrive. Dumbledore's shrieking was getting impatient. She could tell he was getting enraged. He stopped suddenly and turned to the other professors. He looked as if he was asking them what was happening, but they all showed their own confusions in their expressions. It was obvious no one knew what was going on. Maybe the mermaids were sleeping. 

            Just then a bolt of green light shot out of the lake at a very steep, but not perfectly vertical angle. Everyone jumped as it continued into the sky. 

            "What in Merlin's beard?" Flitwick squeaked and he fell backwards. Dumbledore had stood upright.

            "That was a Reversal Spell. He's fighting with them-"

            "So he's alive?" a girl named Parvati said. Dumbledore nodded quickly before putting a clear globe around his head.

            "If he's still alive now, he found a way to survive underwater, which means he can maintain it a while longer. I'm going after him, everyone, please resume your classes." Dumbledore said before he dove in. Shortly afterwards a golden beam of light came out of the water and burned a hole through a cloud as it went into the sky. Everyone looked a professor McGonagal with a pressing anxiety.

            "It was an Energy Spell. So he can keep doing magic without becoming so tired" she said quickly. She was sure to say 'he' because she had no idea who sent it. There was a rumbling and the waves on the water became plagued by the millions of tiny ripples caused by the shaking of the ground. There was a huge splash at the far end of the lake and a dark object was throw out onto the shore. The object stood up to be a person, and it seemed all at once, hundreds of heads made I to the surface, and they all threw spears through the air at the person while shrieking loudly. A blue sphere engulfed the person so that they couldn't be seen, and the spears stuck in it, making the sphere look like a pin cushion. As the last of the spears landed, the sphere disappeared letting all of the weapons fall to the ground. The boy started running in an all out sprint as more mer-people made it to the surface and threw their spears with good accuracy at the dodging and sprinting figure. The figure stayed to the far side of the path as he made full speed to the school. One of the spears got between his legs and he tripped over it landing hard on the ground as the dust was kicked up around him. The mer-people took advantage and unleashed another wave of spears. The person put up a pink wall which the spears bounced off of. He jumped up and stopped suddenly when he saw the large group of people watching from the shore. He decided that getting to them would be a good idea and made the last stretch of his race without trouble. He collapsed near Professor McGonagal and lay down panting. It was Harry. 

It was an awkward moment. With only the panting of Harry, and the sloshing of the waves as the mer-people gave up and dove back to their homes. Harry seemed to be nearly dead from exhaustion, and he kept his eyes closed. His breathing slowed and the water splashed as the Headmaster came out of the lake, his beard and clothes stuck to his body from the water. He approached Harry and stood above him, a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

"Welcome back to Hogwarts, Mr. Mutton. I suppose you enjoyed you little excursion." Dumbledore said with amusement. Harry opened his eyes and sat up.

"Yeah- It was- fun actually.- Where's- Neville, I have- his wand-" Harry said between breaths. Neville came forward and Harry took two wands out of his pocket, he looked at them closely, before handing one to Neville. "I think- this one's yours-" Harry said. He leant back after Neville took his wand and let the sun wash over him. He was glad it was a warm day. 

"He's bleeding." A girl behind him said. Harry looked down and saw the blood trickling on his shirt. He traced it up to his shoulder.

"I don't remember- getting hit" Harry said quietly. 

"Maybe when you dove into the rock" said the Weasley boy. Ron. Yup, that was it.

"Oh yeah. That was probably it. Good thinking Ron. Anyone have something to drink. Preferably something with too much sugar." Harry said to anyone. He felt a little awkward being the center of everyone's attention.

"I believe I can fulfill your request in my office, Mr. Mutton" Dumbledore said. Harry knew it wasn't an invitation. It was a request. 

"Sure. Why not" Harry said as he stood up. He really didn't have anything better to do. He _really_ did not want to stay in front of all these watching eyes. He stood up and walked with Dumbledore up towards the castle. He noticed that the old man smelled like lemon drops. As soon as they made it in the castle, Harry let out a sigh. 

"You gave us all quite a scare, young man" Dumbledore said. "I'm sure there is a good explanation as to why, after retrieving the boy's wand, you didn't immediately return to the surface."

"There is, so why are we going to your office?" Harry asked. 

"Because, despite my knowing there _is a perfectly reasonable explanation, I must _know_ that explanation. From what little I could gather, you have severely damaged the diplomatic relations between us and the mermaid population, therefore, I must know what you have done to rectify the situation. Peanut Peppermints." The gargoyle in front of them stepped aside revealing a moving staircase._

"Right. Well, I started diving after the wand and I had it, but I hit the rock, and I let go of it, and it went into the water, and me after it. So I put an air bubble around my head and dove after it. It took a while, because it kept sinking, but I found it and I was going to come back when I saw two eyes, which turned around and began to swim away. I swam after it out of curiosity, which, before I forget, killed the cat (Dumbledore looked confused), and I caught up to it while I was near the floor. They kept fleeing in front of me until I came to this underwater village which was empty. Giving up on whatever the creatures were, I turned around to go back up to the surface. They appeared behind me, and I could actually see what they were, and that they were carrying spears. They surrounded me and told me to surrender my wand, and myself…" Harry said as he rubbed his temples.

"And…" Dumbledore pressed.

"Well, I said no, but my voice doesn't work in the water, and they started poking me, so I defended myself, and more attacked. I kept defending. I turned one into a fish, I think someone needs to turn it back. This one had a particularly large flipper, and seaweed as a belt…" Harry saw Dumbledore's head fall into his hands.

"You turned the mer-king into a fish?" Dumbledore said incredulously. Harry winced.

"That was the king? So that's why they all got so angry and like two hundred of them came out of nowhere" Harry said with a silly smile. Dumbledore gave him a short look. "Oh, sorry. So yeah, then I gave myself an energy boost, and I ran, or swam, actually, until I got out. And they threw spears, and I used Shielding Charms, and then I made it, and I was happy to be free and alive, and to know mermaids really exist. So overall, it was a worthwhile and pleasant experience, and I would gladly do it again. Or not." Harry said as he judged the look on the Headmaster's face. "Am I being punished?" Harry said after a minute passed.

"I would, but as you are a first year, you have no privileges for me to take away. I can take away points however. Five from Gryffindor for flying without supervision, and five more for endangering relations with our neighbors. You may go Harry. Please try not to get into any more trouble, and let us know if you're alive. It was not pleasant when we thought you had died." Harry nodded understandingly. "One last thing. What happened to the cat?"

"What cat?" Harry asked.

"You mentioned something about the killing of a cat." Dumbledore said. He knew that this would be a terrible step if the boy killed a cat. Harry was thoughtful for a while.

"Oh. Curiosity. Curiosity killed the cat" Harry said. Dumbledore looked confused. "It's a phrase used by muggles. To warn people from doing things that you have no idea what the consequences will be." Dumbledore nodded and watched the boy leave. He was so much like his father, and yet so much like his godfather. He appeared to be the offspring of the intelligence of the one, and the absolute disregard for rules and utter lack of humility of the other. He was the freak hybrid of the two worst types of students. To say it was scary, would, unfortunately, be an understatement.

/\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/

            "No, I didn't purposely try to start a war with the mermaids. I was only protecting myself" Harry said for the twentieth time. It was getting annoying. No one would take him seriously. He guessed it was because he couldn't say it without smiling, and that was because it was so ridiculous. Who would want to start a war with the mer-people? Who could the mer-people ever defeat? Harry had to feel that their history must be similar to the French; the only war they ever won was their own revolution, primarily because they were fighting themselves. Although they could win a battle or two when they weren't being led by a French man. IE, Napoleon, a Corsican, and Joan of Arc. Of course they were both eventually defeated. One burned at the stake and the other under house arrest.

            "Whatever you say, Mutton. You were close though, in almost getting Malfoy expelled. I would have enjoyed that." Dean said with a smirk.

            "Malfoy will never be expelled, he could kill us all before he would be expelled" Harry said disgustedly. The first years who were surrounding him at dinner, and there were quite a few, turned to him curiously.

            "Why's that?" asked Ron, through a mouth full of chicken.

            "Because his father bloody owns the Board of trustees. He buys them with his money and power. All the spoiled little brat has to do is run to daddy and he would be re-instated faster than he could ever be expelled" Harry said matter-of-factly.

            "I doubt he could get that far. In 1432, the son of one of the governors was expelled for killing two students from a rival house. I read it in Hogwarts a history." Hermione said. Mutters of 'know it all' were heard from various students nearby. Many had crowded nearby to be in the light of the only popular first year. 

            "I don't get it…" Hermione whispered into Harry's ear, "…You say just as many obscure things and you get everyone's attention and admiration and when I do it, I'm a know it all. Why?" He could tell she was half joking. He turned to her and leant into her ear.

            "It's because, my dear, I have something you don't" Harry said, mysteriously.

            "I would hope so" she retorted aloud. People glanced at her but generally went back to their food.

            "It's called class" Harry said in an arrogant tone. He breathed on his invisible rings and rubbed them on his chest. She snorted at his antics. 

            "Hey, Harry…" Seamus said. Harry had never been great at names, but he was slowly remembering them. "…you should have seen the bloody magic Dumbledore was doin' when yeh fell in. He was incredible. Made waves the height of trees. Now I think we all know why You-Know-Who never dared challenge him." Seamus' statement was met with various nods.

            "Voldemort never attacked because he was a coward. I however, am not. I will challenge Dumbledore right now." Harry said despite the cringing of most of the students. The muggle-borns were catching on quickly. Harry turned in his seat, and waved his wand in the direction of the Slytherin table. _Se Tempius Projectus. Harry muttered before turning around. He saw the confused glances on all of their faces when nothing happened. "I put it on a timer." He explained. They watched cautiously, worried what a challenge to Dumbledore would look like. There was a white blur followed by a splat as mashed potatoes landed roughly on the Headmaster's face. There was a collective gasp as everyone's eyes turned to where the potatoes had come from. _

            Draco Malfoy was explaining to Crabbe how he had dueled a Werewolf. To create an effect he had taken out his wand and was swinging it exaggeratedly. There was a quiet flopping sound, but Draco ignored it and kept his act going. Then there was a splatter. Probably some mud-blood couldn't hold on to their food. Draco continued despite the silence, but it soon became too much and he looked around. The Headmaster was covered in food, and he was looking straight at Draco. His eyes were cool, despite the roaring blue within them.

            "Mr. Malfoy. For all of our safety, please refrain from using your wand in the Great Hall during mealtimes. As you can see, the consequences of not being able to control your magic could be great. Imagine if you had sent a knife at me instead." 

            Draco was confused beyond belief. He hadn't done it. But now didn't seem like a good time to argue. Even his housemates were looking at him strangely. He searched the hall to try to find a scapegoat, or even the villain, but everyone was looking at him, and the first year Gryffindors were snickering at him. He turned red and slipped his wand into his pocket. He would get that Mutton. Damn wise-ass. 

            Harry turned back to his audience as the noise returned to a normal level. Dumbledore used a napkin to wipe his face. Harry supposed he didn't feel like using magic to do it. "See, I challenged the big man himself. I never said I'd do it openly, though" Harry said with such a sinister grin, most of the first-years burst out laughing. The noise drew the attention of the professors, and it wasn't long before Minerva McGonagal arrived standing behind Harry.

            "Mutton, if you are done with your supper, the headmaster and I would like a word with you. No, you are not in trouble, however my gut feeling tells me you probably should be." This received a nice round of laughs from everyone including Harry. He nodded good-bye to his friends and made his way behind the Professor all the way up to the headmaster's office. They entered behind the gargoyle, and seconds later he was seated. McGonagal went to a narrow open door o the left of the oval office. Harry looked around. Something he hadn't really done before in this office. He had noticed the bird perch, but last time it was empty. This time an old looking reddish bird was seated upon it. It looked amazing.

            "Albus, just use magic to remove it. I hate to say it, but I feel that boy will end up being a terror, with the father he has…" she stopped from saying more as the headmaster exited the room with his glasses replaced and clean on his recently washed face. 

            "Ahh, Mr. Potter. I have confirmed a bit of your life story, and I was told more is on the way. It seems Mr. Black was working on something and didn't want to hold up the owl too long without a response. I am glad to see your stories coincide. Another fact has come to my attention which I desire to discuss with you. I mentioned it to Mr. Black and I await his feelings as well…" Dumbledore began.

            "Where was the place of first contact?" Harry asked seemingly out of the blue.

            "Excuse me?" Dumbledore said.

            "Where did the food hit you? Your nose, your eye?" Harry asked.

            "My nose first, but I assure you it made it around most of my face. It seems Mr. Malfoy is a good shot." Dumbledore said in a tone that meant he wanted to move on.

            "On your nose?" Harry asked. 

            "Yes, my dear boy, dead center, I assure you."

            "Oh. Then I missed, I wanted it to hit just under the nose. Then it gets pushed up it and the people begin to snort." Harry said as a terrible and cruel smile crossed his face. Professor McGonagal jumped up.

            "As his head of house I reserve the right to take away points!!!" she screamed. Dumbledore had his hand up and an amused smile graced his features.

            "No, non of that, Minerva. He has done no wrong, and cause no pain. However, Mr. Potter, this again is why I wish to speak to you. You show a knowledge and talent for magic which sets you apart from the other first year students, putting yourself at an advantage, and them at a disadvantage. It does not do well for them when you can do so much magic and they are just learning. Perhaps you would like to move up one year, and attempt certain second year tasks?" Dumbledore said.

            "No." Harry said in a perfectly normal voice. 

            "No?" Dumbledore asked.

            "No." Harry reaffirmed.

            "No?" Minerva asked incredulously. It was such an honor to be advanced. No one had ever turned it down before.

            "No." Harry said again.

            "No." Dumbledore sighed.

            "No." Harry said again, just in case.

            "No?" Dumbledore asked. He was confused. Harry had said 'No' when he had confirmed his 'No.'

            "No." Harry said one more time. They sat in silence for a second. "I may be proficient in defensive charms, and perhaps a few attacking spells, but my transfiguration training is very basic. What you saw, professor, was pretty much all I know.  I know next to nothing on potions. All I know about history of magic is that I stopped Voldemort and he killed my family. I can defend myself, to a degree, but that's about it, minus the spells that Sirius taught me for entertainment purposes." Harry said in a matter-of-fact voice.

            "Entertainment purposes?" Dumbledore asked. He thought he knew, but he needed confirmation. 

            "Lets just say you had a taste of one of them tonight." Harry said with his smile. It made even Dumbledore squirm. 

            "And how many of these spells have you learned?" Dumbledore asked out of pure curiosity. There was no fear there. Absolutely none. He had recalled that Mr. Potter and Mr. Black were nightmares, but they never had the, the chuztpa to come after the Headmaster. This kid did it on the second day of school, the first day of classes. He was fearless, truly and undeniably fearless. He would need to be resisted. He was very much thinking of the idea of fighting fire with fire.

            "Well, I finished _Spells to Make Little Kids Laugh_, and _Spells to Make Big Kids Cry, _and _The Science of Pranksternationalianism, and _What it Takes to Get Away_. That one was my favorite, probably because it was published by Moony, I mean, Remus Lupin. Anyway. I am halfway through __42,806 Ways to Get Back at Him. That is a brilliant work too." Harry said._

            "Wasn't that one banned six years ago?" Professor McGonagal said hopefully.

            "It was, but you know Hogwarts never supported censorship, Minerva." Dumbledore responded as she sent death glares at him. Harry would have to learn to be able to accept glares like that nonchalantly.

            "Good. I know not to leave it out. And after I finish that one the next book is _Specific Tricks for People With Specific Traits. I've only glanced through it, but it looks good. Teaches you how to single out individuals with certain traits, and hit them where it hurts. You know. How to get men worst, women, tall people, short people, happy people, smart people, popular people, arrogant people, rich people, jealous people, people in love. It looks good." Harry said as Minerva sighed._

            "Albus…" she groaned. Dumbledore saw Harry's mouth curl. He was enjoying this.

            "Well, Mr. Potter, or Mutton I should say. We are done here. Wait, one second. What are your thoughts on revenge, or retribution?" Dumbledore asked. Harry immediately recognized the deeper meaning of the question.

            "I don't know. What goes around comes around? Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth? That alright?" Harry asked.

            "Very much so, You both may go." Harry got up quickly and waited for the deputy headmistress to follow. Harry made it to the door of the office and turned around.

            "You don't have it, don't think that you do, and I think that you will regret it when it finally happens." Harry said. Minerva looked between them worriedly, and Dumbledore just looked confused. Harry turned to the door, and slowly turned the knob to give the headmistress time to catch up to him. He opened the door sharply as he feel to the ground. A white mass of something came forward and went right above where Harry was laying and hit professor McGonagal in the chest, splattering it all over her robes. She looked down in shock and anger as she wiped some of it off with her fingers. Harry jumped up and turned to the headmaster.

            "You had your wand drawn, you were doing the spell loud enough for us to hear, you even asked about revenge, it was too obvious. I told you, you don't have it, Headmaster. Stick with the games you're good at. I'll leave you two alone to work this out." Harry made a mad dash out the door and down the stairs. As he passed the gargoyle, he supposed that the professor had come to her senses, because "ALBUS!!!" was echoing loudly in the halls. Harry could barely hold on from laughing to death as he stumbled clumsily all the way to the Gryffindor common room. This was going to be an awesome, awesome year.

Thanks everyone for reviewing. Sorry to take so long. Very busy, no time, and now spring sports have started. Good fun! I hope you enjoyed this. Leave me a review.

DaBear- You get the credit for the merpeople. Yup. Harry decides to make an unwelcomed visit into their deep abode. 

BlackDragon- I know it was unfair, but I was too tired to continue at the time, and it seemed like a good place to stop. Sorry. Hope you liked this chap.

Thanks to everyone else as well. Have a nice night.


	8. Of Leniency

            "He tried to get back at you?" said Seamus incredulously. Professors doing tricks to students was unheard of. 

            "Yup, but good ole McGonagal stepped in the way just in time. The poor old woman never saw it coming." Harry said. He noticed that even Hermione was grinning. She seemed really awkward being in this large group with Harry. He supposed she never had many friends, then again, neither did he. He watched as he face turned curiously to horror.

            "So I'm a poor old woman, am I, Mutton?" came a deep voice filled with venom. Harry honestly was surprised to see her in the common room. He, judging from what he saw people doing in the room, didn't suppose she visited it often.

            "No ma'm. I was just saying how you were an alluring and decidingly cold, at times, woman." Harry said quickly.

            "Yes, I _must have misheard you. In my __old age my hearing is not as good as it used to be. Which reminds me P- Mutton, if you have a moment of free time, I would like a private word." Harry saw that even the twin were very upset by this. _

            "Yes, well, I believe tomorrow afternoon at around three I am available for a minute or too." Harry said cheekily. He got a round of suppressed laughter from his friends.

            "Now, Mutton. Outside." She said. Harry took a breath in anticipation, and followed her out of the entrance. She shut the portrait of the fat lady behind Harry, and he looked up at her. She checked the hall to make sure it was void of students. The Fat Lady was smiling warmly at them, but watched in curiosity.

            "Now you listen here, Boy. I know what your thinking. That dratted godfather of yours has filled you tiny brain with wonderful ideas about adventures and jokes and other such nonsense at the expense of others. I taught your father and your godfather, and I know what he would have told you. I know that you think you can come here and have fun beyond your own expectations, but listen here Boy. LOOK AT ME! You listen here. I won't have any of this nonsense. If I so much suspect you of anything, I will take your punishment to the extreme, and you will be sorry young man. I will make you sorry." McGonagal said.

            "Professor…" the fat lady began.

            "Not now." She rebuked.

            "But…" 

            "Not now. Harry, You're father could have been so much greater than he was, but he wasted his time and brainpower on this useless garbage. I will not allow the same mistake to happen again. As of now I will be watching you Potter, like a hawk my eyes will track your every move. I know many things, and other things I can learn from others. You are always being watched here, boy. If you let one hair out of line, I will place so many restrictions on you that you won't be able to breath. Do you know what it's like to be in prison,, boy?" She said.

            "Yes, actually. One night I was constructing a trap to catch my Godfather on the way in from a late meeting, but it accidentally trapped me, and he had decided to spend the night at Sarah's house, so he never came home to let me out. He got home the next morning and wouldn't let me out as punishment. It was kinda like going to school, but I didn't go anywhere or do anything, so I just slept until he let me out." Harry said innocently. She closed her eyes to recollect her thoughts.

            "The headmaster may find your antics amusing, but I don't and as you are in _my house, and being __my responsibility, I will not sleep until you are locked in the tallest tower, wandless and trapped. You will not create havoc on my watch, young man. I repeat, I will be watching you. On another note, Gryffindor quidditch team is short a seeker. You showed __some ability with a broom, so I asked the headmaster and he has agreed to allow you to try out for the team. However, you must tell no one of this. I mean it. If it comes back to me, you are off the team. Forever." She suppressed a smile as the boy cringed. "Now, you will meet with Oliver Wood on the quidditch pitch tomorrow at dusk. He will run you through the basics, and assess any skills which you may have. Katie Bell makes a decent Seeker, but she is best at chaser. If you show skill as a chaser, you may end up there instead. I will warn you once more. I am bending the rules for you on this, but this is it. You make any trouble and you will be off the team faster than an African Sparrow. Don't mess with m-" she stopped suddenly and looked sown the hall. As she stopped Harry heard the soft patter of feet. A first year girl, Lavender, had arrived at the top of the stairs  and looked at them both awkwardly. Harry saw the professor give her a meaningful look and she continued by them and said the password to the Fat Lady. The portrait opened an seven students fell out. Three with flaming red hair._

            As they stood up Harry checked off their names. Fred and George, Ron, Seamus, Dean, a boy name Lee Jordan, and that Oliver Wood character. They all looked up at the professor with large grins. "Welcome."

            "To the team, Harry" said George and Fred, respectively. They both offered their hands which the professor smacked away.

            "You boys are not to be listening in to conversations that do not concern you" she said sharply.

            "But professor," said Fred.

            "This does concern us," George said.

            "We _are on the," Fred said._

            "Quidditch team," said George.

            "Aren't we?" said Fred. Harry could tell she was beginning to loose it.

            "And what are you scaring the wee firs' years for?" George said suddenly.

            "The little bugger hasn't done anything yet, and already you're tryin' to scare the fun out of him." Fred supported.

            "Think about his mental health if you take away a key part of his personality." George continued.

            "The emotional scarring it could cause at such a tender age." Fred said while pinching Harry's cheek.

            "You could very well be ruining this young lad's life, you should be grateful" George said.

            "That we had the courage and audacity to stop you before the damage was done" Finished Fred.

            "All I'm going to say, is that you all will keep your mouths closed on this. If you don't there will be severe penalties, for all of you. Mutton, you know where to be" McGonagal said.

            "And if you don't" said Fred.

            "It's with Oliver here" said George.

            "Tomorrow" said Lee.

            "At dusk" finished Oliver. The Deputy Headmistress rolled her eyes, but gave them all a sharp look before leaving. As she turned the corner Harry saw everyone relax a bit.

            "What in bloody hell did you do to bunch her panties so much?" said Fred. Ron, Dean and Seamus were back in the common room whispering to the congregation of first years that Harry had left to speak with the deputy headmistress. 

            "I got Dumbledore- I got the Headmaster to cover her in mashed potatoes." Harry said, trying to withhold his laughter.

            "That's bloody brilliant, it is." Piped in Lee. Harry couldn't stop giggling. 

            "Amazing, dear brother, I think we've come a cross a model of ourselves, just newer and upgraded in every way, especially in the size of the genitalia." Said George.

            "I know, and when we thought they didn't make them any bigger, here one comes to usurp you and make our courageous acts feel small and insignificant." Added Fred.

            "The tragedy!" called out George, being far too dramatic.

            "The pain!" returned Fred.

            "But Oh, my friends, do not forget the comedy, for it is comedy which rules our lives" said Lee, with such finesse and emotion, that even Fred and George stopped.

            "Whoa there, Sparky, don't get too excited over there," Harry said, "The comedy always takes a back seat to the sense of accomplishment" Harry interjected. The boys looked at him and smiled. 

            "Fred and I have an appointment we don't want to miss, but we'll speak with you later" George said.

            "Yes, we do have some business to take care of together. We'll check in on you later." Fred chimed, before they both sprinted down the hall and out of sight. Harry offered a smile to Oliver and Lee, and returned to his seat, which, amazingly enough was still open. The first years became quiet when he arrived. He nodded and it was all they needed. He heard a bunch of congratulations through the numerous slaps on the back. He noticed that Hermione was missing and asked where she was. He was told by the Parvati girl that she went up to the dormitories to study in peace. Harry would have non of that. As he got up and reached the bottom of the stairs to the girls dormitories, there was a collective yelling, screaming gasp coming from the general population, most of it was from the girls. 

            "Hey, little guy, you're not allowed up there" yelled a seventh year. 

            "You tell him, Carrie" said another girl from across the room.

            "Holy jebus. If step in you precious tabernacle will the world fall apart? I think not. I'm only going to get my friend, so if you feel the need to send an escort, have someone follow me, I don't mind, but I'm going up there so bugger off" Harry said with slight annoyance before disappearing up the stairs. He didn't notice the silence that fell behind him, nor the wave of laughter that made nearly all the boys laugh with tears. 

            It wasn't hard to find the first year dormitories. He didn't think he needed to knock. He probably should have, but that would ruin the spontaneity. He opened the door as quickly as he could. Hermione looked up with tired eyes, which opened in surprise as she recognized the person.

            "You're-" she began.

            "Not supposed to be here, I know. But I couldn't live without seeing you for another second. Darling, Sugar, Honeycakes, Sweety, Sweet Pea, Pumpkin, hell, I'll even throw in High Fructose Corn Syrup, I need you so bad!" Harry said in a high voice while he fell onto his knees. He was glad to see she was laughing. He jumped up and ran to her desk. He place his elbows on it and bent his knees to rest his head on his hands. "So what are we studying?"

            "Potions" she muttered. 

            "Ahh, one of the hardest types of magic. The great equalizer, grade wise." Harry said.

            "How so?" she asked. He noticed she put down her quill, maybe she was finishing up for the night.

            "It brings the crappy Slytherin grades up, and the decent grades of every other house down. Wait, we haven't had a potions lesson yet, what are you studying for?" Harry asked. She began rubbing her eyes.

            "Well, I hear Professor Snape is really mean, so I want to be prepared, I want to know the material" she said. Harry slapped her lightly on the back of the head.

            "FOOL! That's what lunch is for. When do you over-achievers ever learn. It's not bad to know more than everyone else, it's bad to _do more than everyone else.And you wonder why people are scared of your ultimate registry of knowledge. You are a dangerous person to be around, you know." Harry said._

            "Why?" she asked.

            "Because, you make normal conformist people look stupid, and they don't like to look stupid. They don't understand that appearing stupid can be god's greatest advantage when dealing with people who _think_ they are smarter than everyone else. Draco Malfoy, for example" Harry said. She lay her head down on her arms. Harry lifted it back up earning him a questioning look from her. "If you're going to sleep, go to bed, you'll be in pain tomorrow if you sleep in this position. Happens to my godfather all the time." Harry said with another smile. She pushed her chair out and struggled to her feet.

            "How can you be so happy and energetic this late?" she mumbled.

            "Oh, I almost forgot, I was asked to try out for the quidditch team. I'll be the first first-year player in like, a hundred years. It'll be amazing. Oh, you'll love quidditch. I'll get you a book on it." He joked. She seemed less than amused and flopped onto her bed. Out of habit for doing it for Sirius, he untied and took off her sneakers. She mumbled a 'thanks' and he handed her her pillow after it fell of the bed. "Aren't you going to change first?" Harry asked as she snuggled into the sheets.

            "Oh yeah" She grumbled, as if she didn't want to be reminded. She sat up and started taking off her shirt. Harry turned around.

            "Jesus Christ! You could at least ask me to leave. That is common practice in the magical world too" Harry said.

            "Oh yeah. Leave then. I have to change" she said mocking his voice very poorly.

            "You know what, if your going to act that way, then I think I'll stay. Plus, you haven't finished all of chapter one in the potions textbook yet" He turned around and notice she stopped moving and her eyes were wide open. She didn't like what he was doing. He was being confrontational and direct. Hermione always avoided those people out of fear, and now she had one sitting in a desk chair at the foot of her bed. 

            "Don't make me hex you." She said with a very bad attempt at a sneer.

            "You don't know any good hexes, if you know any at all" Harry returned to her great dismay. "Shall we continue where you left off? Good. Now…Here we go. _Boiling and Simmering are key to the potions process. Boiling effectively eliminates many unwanted magics quickly from a mixture, ensuring it's purity. Simmering is useful for the extraction of elements from magical ingredients, such as the hair of a unicorn. Therefore, Boiling and Simmering are often used together, and in some cases many times to ensure the best and most consistent result in your concoctions. One more item your potions depend on are the preciseness of measure regarding your ingredients. Some potions call for exact numbers, such as 200ml of water, where others will call for more vague numbers, such as four Raspberry blossoms. These blossoms may vary in size, but overall the effect on the potion is small. But measured ingredients, such as the three, one centimetre diameter spider eyes required for the Sight Correction Potion, greatly and mortally effect the life of your potion. These measurements are so important, it is recommended that you get a second opinion without alerting the party as to the desired amount to reduce bias. Measuring is the number one reason for mistakes in potion in the world. In the last fifty years, thirteen have died, and ninety four have been severely injured or harmed as a result of messy measuring. It is key to make sure your slicing and cutting and measuring and mixing techniques are up to standard." Harry looked up at her. She was on her back now and her eyes were closed. Her breathing suggested she was sleeping until she opened her eyes. She gave him a soft smile before closing her eyes again. He closed the book and placed it on her desk. She pulled the sheets closer to her body, and Harry blew out the three candles near her bed, leaving one in the corner on as a courtesy to her room mates._

            "G'night, Hermione" he said softly. She didn't acknowledge it, and he assumed she was sleeping. He crept softly from her bed and made it to the common room in almost perfect silence. 

            As he entered the common room he noticed that the quiet mumblings of everyone was deafening compared to the soft speech he and Hermione had shared. He rolled his eyes as he got a few cat-calls as he walked away from the stairs. He made his way over to Dean, Seamus and Ron, and stood in the middle of their huddle.

            "Can I help you with something, sheep-meat?" Ron said. Harry effectively turned away from him and faced only Dean and Seamus.

            "Anyone want to give the Slytherins, an, um, achem, rude awakening, shall we say?" Harry said in a quiet voice so no eavesdroppers could hear.

            "Now? It's almost ten o'clock" stated Dean, checking the clock on the mantle.

            "Well, if you want to get them in the morning, you have to prepare at night. You don't know what I had to sacrifice to prepare myself for this operation, nor the spells I had to learn, on my own, to hide it from my parent, nor the spells I had to learn to get the supplies undetected into this bloody place, so if anyone wants to help in using muggle methods of mischief, not only will it be fun, noble, and hilarious, it will be very educational. Who's in?" Harry said. His voice was quiet but firm, and all three seemed moved, only Ron moved to anger.

            "Leave here, Mutton, our ideas are so much better than anything you could ever think of" Ron said harshly.

            "What ideas?" asked Dean. When Ron couldn't respond, he told Harry "I'm in."

            "Me too" said Seamus. "What do we do?"

            "Good, you two come with me, I have to teach you a spell first, and judging from your skills, it should only take about an hour, then we can have our fun. Do you have your wands?" Harry asked. They both went through their pockets as Ron blew air loudly out of his mouth before standing up and leaving the group. Harry took his seat and waited until they had their wands out. "Good, now I need you to think about the absolute coldest thing you can…"

/\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/

            "…Here now, try this glass of water." Harry placed the glass of water on the table between them and watched as Dean muttered "_Frigidus_" and the water turned to ice. "Good, _calorus_" Harry said and the ice melted. "Your turn Seamus" Harry said. Dean noticed the boy's increasing excitement. Seamus also successfully turned the water into ice. They both were very proud to learn the freezing spell, but Harry wouldn't let them dwell on it. 

            "Excellent, the both of you. It wasn't too hard was it?" Harry asked, they both shook their heads, "And to think that we will spend two weeks learning that one in a few months. Now, who's ready to terrorize the Slytherins?"

            "Wicked" Dean muttered with a very nice looking smirk. Seamus shook his head in agreement.

            "To Slytherin Common Room we go." Harry said. They all got up and with curious glances from the other students, they exited through the portrait of the fat lady, and Seamus and Dean followed Harry in a short silence. About halfway to Harry's destination, Dean became confused.

            "How are we going to get in their room? Do you have the password?"

            "No, I have a secret passage. I can't let you guys see how to open it, unfortunately, so you will have to trust me while I blindfold you and do it. I won't do anything to you, I can promise you that. I have some targets that need hitting, and I would do it alone if I was capable enough magically, but I need to accomplices. If we are caught though, just say I offered you a ridiculous amount of candy if you helped me, and blame it on me, I'll take the rap, but I firmly believe that we won't get caught." Harry stopped walking, halfway up a staircase, and turned around to see both Dean and Seamus looking back worriedly. "Don't worry, boys, I know the way back, and I won't abandon you. We noble Gryffindors have to stick together" Harry said to emotionally that they had to stifle laughs. "I'll be back in a second, put these on while I'm gone." 

            Harry removed two hankerchiefs from his pocket and handed one each to Dean and Seamus. They began to put them on as Harry ran quickly up the stairs. 

            "What do you reckon he's doing?" asked Seamus.

            "I don't know, but I think we can trust him, he hasn't been mean or anything to us" responded Dean. Just then there was the tapping of quick feet and heavy breathing.

            "Harry?" asked Seamus.

            "Yeah, be quiet a second" Harry responded. It sounded like he was counting under his breath. Dean felt two hands grip his shoulders, and move him up a few steps. Seamus then felt himself pushed back one steps. They heard a soft grinding, similar to that of stone on stone.

            "What is that?" asked Dean.

            "Hold on, wait a minute" Harry said. They did what they were told. Dean felt Harry's hands guide him to the left. He was sure he was going to hit the wall, but he never did. Then he felt a body being pushed against his, and a sharp shaking of the floor. "Ok, guys, you can take them off." Harry said. They both looked around and knew immediately what the shaking and grinding was.

            "Whoa, my first secret passage" Seamus whispered.

            "And arguably the most valuably. It is the only way into all four common rooms without the knowledge of the password" Harry explained as he pocketed the hankerchiefs. He led them down the hallway. They passed a circular room, and followed Harry down one of the branching hallways. Their path became immediately steep, but there were no steps so they were able to run quickly. Harry had lit his wand and he stopped before he hit the wall. Seamus was just behind him, and Dean took five seconds to catch up. All three were panting heavily.

            "Ok- The Slytherin- house always- had- a- curfew at ten- Slytherin liked- sleep and he- felt that- his pupils should- get a lot.- Our chances- of having someone- in the common room- are slim- but still- present. So if anyone wants to wait- tell me now." Harry said through his breathing. No one responded, so they just waited and breathed, when their breathing levels returned to normal, Harry pushed against the wall, and it soundlessly swung open over the mantle. Dean watched as Harry glanced around and hopped out. 

            Harry looked around. The Slytherin Common room was not bad. Other than having low cielings and being very dim, it resemble the Gryffindor common room. There were thick carpets, soft chairs, tables, a deep firepit, and even a nice candle lit chandelier. Oh, and everything was green. Harry waited for Seamus to climb out before he closed the portrait of a sleeping Salazar Slytherin. Even in sleep the man looked arrogant. Harry took four blocks the size of dice out of his pocket and lay them on the floor. He whispered a spell, and the boxes became quiet large, about half the size of a normal trunk. Harry opened one of the boxes and handed one each of the contents to Seamus and Dean. Seamus looked confused. 

            "This, is our prank" Harry said proudly.

            "Shaving cream?" said Dean. What was wrong with this kid. He had four large boxes full of shaving cream.

            "Listen to me first. What you do is you freeze the cans of the shaving cream, right? Then you cut away the metal, while it is frozen inside. Then, we place about twelve frozen blocks of shaving cream into each room. As they melt they expand a lot, and when they wake up, they are this high (Harry brought his hand over his head) in shaving cream." Harry said.

            "Wait one moment" said Seamus. "I have no idea what this stuff is or does, but I'll believe what you're saying. But how much do we have? Four times four. Sixteen cans per layer. Two layers per box. That makes thirty two cans per box, then four boxes. That's…………carry the one……one hundred and twenty eight cans of this stuff. If you put twelve in each room, you only have enough for ten rooms. There are seven years, then boys and girls. So there are fourteen rooms. Which four do we skip?" Harry looked taken aback for a second before smiling.

            "I'm glad I brought you along. Good man. Fine, we'll leave out the girls. They aren't that cruel anyway. If we just hit the boys, it'll send a message about the cockiness. So we can put at least fifteen cans in each of the boys room, right?" Seamus nodded. "Ok, now I like having three people, because we can each do one step. One of you ('Me' said Dean), fine, Dean will freeze the cans than give them to me. I will cut the can off and hand you the frozen shaving cream. You line them up and just keep freezing them in an organized manner so they don't melt too soon. Then, when they are all done, we place them just inside the doors, and we leave. In the morning, we laugh. Lets start." They began slowly, but after about ten repetitions, things sped up. After about fifteen minutes, all of the cans were done, except for one. Harry put it on the mantle. He figured it would make them even angrier, and that was a good thing. They worked in perfect harmony, going through the de-canned bunch one last time making sure they were all frozen well. They took arm-fulls of the frozen blocks of white ice and placed fifteen in each room of the boys dormitories. Harry had calculated the number of twelve cans from a the size of his own dormitory. Now they were using fifteen cans in each dormitory, and he noted that the Slytherin dormitories were slightly smaller. He couldn't even imagine the effect it would have. It didn't take long to place all of the frozen blocks. They were just slipped through the doors, and then the doors were shut. For the most part they didn't speak, and they were perfectly silent. On occasion they would shake trying to keep in their giggles. 

            "Harry, we have twenty two left" whispered Dean as he looked down at the pile left in the common room. They had hit all of the boys dorms and watched in awe as a few of the ones left in the commons room began expanding at a noticeable pace. Dean pulled out his wand to freeze them and stop it but Harry held his hand and stopped him.

            "No, just leave them and let them do their job. The common room could use some redecorating too." Harry said with a soft snort. Seamus was turning purple from holding in his laughter. Harry signaled to the mantle, and they pulled a chair over to climb up. Harry opened the portrait with his wand, and they climbed in. They turned back and watched as the foaming continued at incredible speeds, creeping along the thick carpet of the Slytherin common room. Harry closed the portrait behind them, and they all subconsciously agreed to run all the way back to their beds. 

/\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/

            "He is terrible Albus, and I move to have him under stricter watch from all of us!" Minerva said. She glanced menacingly around the circular table.

            "How can you be so sure?" asked professor Flitwick "Minerva, you have only known him for one day. Can you judge a first year so critically on his first day?"

            "I know this may come as a shock to you all, but I must side with our short friend over here. He does have a point. You are being quite judge-mental about this Mutton character, and he's been here just over twenty seven hours" Severus said with a smirk on his face. He loved voting down motions made by the Deputy Headmistress.

            "Do we know anything about him?" Professor Sprout asked. Minerva made a movement to speak, but Dumbledore beat her to it.

            "Nothing of any importance, I'm afraid" the Headmaster said. "I can see no reason to put the boy under such circumstances…" The headmaster trailed off as a sound was heard through the walls. It was the loud laughing. There were a few voices laughing as they passed through the wall on the far side of the room, but one of them stood out to the headmaster's ears. "On second thought, how about we don't allow him any margin for error. Can we make sure he stays on track? Try to be a little less lenient?"

Too tired to write anything else. Probably tons of mistakes. Leave a review please. Thanks.


	9. Brownie Points

            He watched with pity as Dean and Seamus fell asleep almost immediately. Too out of shape, or too easily tired. He couldn't tell which. He thought back to Hermione and wondered if it was unfair to hold Dean and Seamus to a higher level. He figured that Hermione did quite a bit more thinking, which he had discovered from personal experience was extremely tiring, more so than any game of football he had ever played, minus the one against the Salingsburg Schooners. That game was like three hours long. Two overtimes followed by three shootouts until finally his team had won. It was pure luck too. Robby, the midfielder on Harry's team, had hit a very weak roller and the keeper, being shocked**, **had stumbled on a soft spot and fell. Who could have guessed such a clumsy error could win such a competitive game? Harry wasn't tired at all, and was bored and looking for something to do. He decided to secretly attempt to emulate Hermione and extracted his Potions textbook. He scanned and skipped the first chapter, all about measuring nicely and how to boil and simmer, and light a fire, and freeze, and cool, all the simple etiquette. He needed something useful.

            In the beginning of chapter two he discovered some fairly simple looking potions that anyone with three brain cells could manage. He read their titles and purposes and scanned the ingredients. The procedures he didn't bother with. He found himself taking notes.

/\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/

            Head Boy Percy Weasley, Seventh year peeked into the first years dormitories to make sure that everything was alright for the night. He saw that the Mutton boy was calmly taking notes. From the thickness of the book he guessed that it was either potions or history of magic. He realized that this struck him as odd because even he, Mr. Over-Achiever had never been so inclined to be copying notes on his second day of school, much less in his first year. This was ridiculous. He had half a mind to order the boy to sleep. But he stopped himself. If this boy had such a desire to be the best, then who was he to interfere? Percy turned and continued up the stairs to the other dormitories.

            What Percy hadn't seen was the smirk on the boy's face and the organization of his notes. There were six parchments**,** each with a different title**;** Malfoy, Slytherins, Ravenclaws/Hufflepuffs, Great Hall, Professors, House Mates (Ron, George and Fred). On each was a variety of potions, and the administration of each, as well as the desired effects. Was this really studying? He had to say yes, it was studying with a purpose.

/\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/

            Harry woke early the next morning. He knew immediately that he only had a short amount of time before history was made. He began waking Seamus and Dean. He wanted them to be awake for the results of their nights work. He kept pushing them until they were dressed and barely awake, but awake enough to walk around. As they made it down the stairs into the common room Harry saw a cheerful and energetic Hermione Granger ferociously studying her potions textbook. She was alone, as it was about six o'clock, and no one in their right mind would be studying. She blushed at the looks she received from Dean and Seamus.

            "If I was Snape and I wanted to ask about things which most students would skip or just glance at, it would be the common ingredients page. Spend some time on it if you're serious about him giving a quiz or something." Harry said. He saw a small smile grace her rosy cheeks. He and his accomplices continued towards the portrait of the fat lady.

            "WAIT! Wait, I mean. Where are you going so early?" It was then that Harry realized she was studying to pass the time. She was bored. 

            "We have an inclination that something of great humor is about to happen, so we thought we may want to see it. You're welcome to come along if you wish" Harry said. He watched as she smiled widely.

            "Thanks, I'll just be a minute, I need to return my book up to my- my-my" she sputtered as she hurriedly collected her papers.

            "Just do it" said Dean, not entirely gentlemanly. She nodded and sprinted up the stairs of the girl's dormitory and they waited for her. Harry noticed the looks of disapproval he was getting from the two of them.

            "What?" He asked out of curiosity. 

            "Why did you have to bring along the know-it-all?" Dean asked.

            "Yeah, she'll ruin the fun, or worse, rat us out" Seamus added.

            "Guys, she may be one to follow the rules, but she certainly won't rat out people from her own house. Her desire to win the house cup is too large and she knows that we would loose house points. Secondly, she may or may not be a know it all, but there will be times, I guarantee it, where you will need her knowledge. That, and she's in our house, so she is one of the group. She can be trusted with anything, and if she can't then she's the type that would tell us before hand. She is a much greater asset than she is a setback" Harry said. He prided himself in being able to bullshit so well that he could even see his words as truthful, almost. 

            "Agreed" conceded Seamus.

            "Yeah" agreed Dean. Harry felt good in convincing them to let her come along, even if it was only so that she wouldn't feel left out. She came down a few seconds later with a very excited look on her face. They marched in awkward silence down to the entrance hall where Harry explained they would wait. As the silence grew worse, Harry started speaking with Hermione about how far she got in the textbook. Dean cut in suddenly. 

            "Why won't they just use a cleaning spell to clean it up?" he said. Harry reluctantly turned from Hermione to Dean.

            "Because shaving cream is similar to a cleaning material. If they try it, it'll be like…trying to dry something by spraying water on it. It won't work. Plus we targeted a house of only Pure-blood wizards, from only wizarding families. That means that they have no idea what shaving cream is, or does, or what it smells like. Therefore, they'll think it's a freak potion or something, and then you get a-" Harry stopped as they heard a loud sound. 

            "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH GET IT OFF ME!!!" "HELP!" "SOMEONE HELP ME!!!" A chorus of yells came from the stairs going into the dungeons. Seconds later a medium sized male, probably a third or fourth year, came running up the stairs by them. He was in his pajamas and he went towards the corridor where the Headmaster's office was. Harry started laughing along with Dean and Seamus, and he saw that Hermione was giggling as well. As things began to calm down, Harry pulled an object from his pocket and made it larger. It was an old, mechanical camera.

            "Never leave home without it. Who wants to instill this day in history forever?" Harry asked. They all nodded vigorously and followed him down the stairway, and through the dungeons. They were beginning to think that Harry had gotten them lost until they rounded a corner and saw an opening from which a ridiculous amount of shaving cream oozed. It was about chest height, chin height for Hermione, and it was thick and beautiful. Harry started snapping pictures, and as if on cue, the rest of the Slytherins awoke and started screaming and running in panic. Out of their dormitories, they poured into the common room; they splashed throughthe shaving cream in their fright and desperation to get out. Harry kept snapping his pictures, and the four of them couldn't stop laughing enough to move. There was a stampede to the doorway in which many of the younger students were being pushed under**,** squashed**, and stepped on as they disappeared under the surface. As Harry ran out of film and Slytherins closed on the door, Harry signaled to everyone that it was time to leave. As they neared the Entrance hall, they passed the student who had run by them and with him was the headmaster.**

            "Stop, the four of you. What is happening?" Dumbledore asked.

            "We heard that an event of rare and bizarre importance was happening and I had to get it on camera" Harry said quickly. 

            "How did you know what event was occuring?" The headmaster quipped, and Dean, Seamus and Hermione all looked at him sadly, as they knew the headmaster was going to capture him as being responsible. 

            "I was simply going for an early breakfast. I was awake and hungry, and on my way down he ran by screaming about something or other, and he was covered in white stuff, so I felt I should get my camera, and some friends and see what was going on. I do think you should get down there though, Headmaster. Things are really out of control" Harry said. The headmaster obviously didn't believe him, but raced on after the student down into the dungeons. 

            "Wow, you were nearly caught" Hermione said shortly afterwards. "To think of every rule you broke to do that. Do you know how foolish it was? How wrong it was?"

            "In the words of a brilliant man, 'I never made a mistake in my life; at least never one I couldn't explain away afterwards.'" Harry said.

            "It matters who you consider brilliant" Hermione retorted.

            "True, but I do consider Rudyard Kipling to be rather brilliant" Harry responded. She seemed to accept it, as Dean and Seamus exchanged knowing looks. Sure, Hermione was the know-it-all, but knowing everything was not the only measure of intelligence. 

/\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/

            Harry relayed the story to a significant group of Gryffindors and Ravenclaws during breakfast. He had taken over one thousand separate orders for pictures. He knew Slytherin was hated, but he never imagined it could be to such an extreme. It was fanatical. He ended the account and the group dispersed, leaving him to his breakfast. He barely listened in as Ron was being told what he had missed out on by Dean as Seamus and Hermione quietly discussed the amazing places around the castle. Harry glanced up with a subtle smirk to the Headmaster as Snape let his house students in, cleaning them one by one. The cleaning was basically a rinse followed by a drying, occurring in the dungeons. The news had spread quickly, and some were congratulating Fred and George, to their great confusion. 

            Harry smiled at the idea of the snotty Slytherins getting cleaned off by their Head of House. They were entering with their heads down, utterly humiliated. The large doors to the Great Hall creaked open. Harry turned, expecting another humiliated student to enter. Instead it was an older looking man, with long brown hair and shabby robes. He looked like a homeless person. The man glanced across the student body, and Harry saw the headmaster meet the man and direct him out of the hall. Everyone else went back to their conversations, but the man's face seemed vaguely familiar to Harry, and Hermione noticed his expression. She gave him a meaningful look and he shrugged it off. She seemed unsure, but the next second the flutter of thousands of wings announced the arrival of the post. The dense cloud of owls swooped in, dropping their packages and letters, before landing for a quick bite. Harry was surprised to see Mercury flying towards him, and he prepared himself for her landing.

            Seconds later, the owl landed in such a small space on the table it was almost unreal. The owl handed Harry a small note from her beak, and Harry held out his last sausage for her, and the owl grabbed it and flew off. 

            "You should really teach that animal some manners" Hermione's voice penetrated Harry's concentration. He looked up and she seemed to understand from the numerous confused glances she was getting that her statement had not been received well. She saw Harry slip the note into his pocket and watched as he finished his eggs in a few large bites. 

            "Who sent you the note?" Hermione asked as he finished.

            "Oh, it's nothing" Harry responded innocentlyas he put his goblet down from a swig of pumpkin juice. 

            "Oh, are you ready for Potions?" she asked. He sensed the nervousness in her voice. 

            "Yeah, I have to run and get something. I'll meet you in Potions in, twenty minutes is it?" Harry said. She nodded. He stood up and calmly left.

            As he made it to the gargoyle, it opened as if it anticipated him. He stepped inside and circled up the staircase until he got to the door to the Headmaster's office. He opened it and stepped in. The shaggy man from the Great Hall jumped to his feet, his eyes wide with awe and sadness.

            "Harry?" the man said. Harry looked over at the headmaster and responded with his normal yes. The man seemed to think better of his position and took the seat behind him. "Harry Potter?" He asked again. Harry nodded. "My god, you're alive." The man said. Harry just stood there. Both the man and Dumbledore looked at him like he was going to do a trick.

            "What? I'm not used to this whole lost son of humanity thing. I never felt lost, so I don't exactly feel found or reunited or any of that. Can someone tell me what's going on?" Harry said getting a little annoyed. The man turned immediately to Dumbledore.

            "He's just like James" the man said. That's when it clicked.

            "Remus Lupin?" Harry asked. The man seemed caught off guard. 

            "Y-yes" he said stuttering a little. 

            "Wow, you looked a lot different in the pictures Sirius has. You always looked so much bigger in the pictures. Sirius told me positively everything about you. He said he always went through your trunk and stuff trying to find the plans for your pranks. He said the only thing he ever found was a love letter to you from Mimi McAllister" Harry said with sudden comfort.

            "I thought someone stole that!" Remus said with growing anger. "And he was going through my things? For how long?" he demanded.

            "I don't know, but until I was seven he made me read it aloud every night before I went to sleep. It was the only reading material he would let me read before sleep. He said that you were the best person on the planet for finding and getting rare magical objects like the time you got the really strong acid formula which would work with lemon drops" Harry said. Dumbledore had stood.

            "You did that? It took five of the most agonizing days of my life to re-grow my teeth, and you almost let me expel Frankie Schultz for that!" he said with a booming, unnatural voice. Harry could see that Remus was scared. He couldn't help but laugh. Sirius had told him countless times that whenever they were caught for doing something as small as talking too loudly, Remus always panicked about expulsion. 

            "Y-y-you always say that what happened in the past stays in the past, right?" Remus said unsurely. Dumbledore made a humph**-like sound before sitting again, but he was eyeing Remus piercingly. The silence was very awkward. **

            "I have potions" Harry said after standing for three more minutes with nothing to do or say. 

            "Yes, Harry, you may go" Dumbledore said. Harry smiled at Remus and left. He was in high spirits when he entered the Potions classroom, and that was his first mistake. With a grin on his face he met the gaze of a very irritable and ornery Severus Snape. 

            "Sit, boy!" the potions master commanded brashly. Harry did a double take and made his way to an open seat next to Hermione despite other people waving him over to their tables. As he neared the table the door slammed making Harry jump. He turned and saw the professor grinning evilly as he stood next to it. 

"The period has begun and you are still unseated, Gryffindor. Twenty points from Gryffindor for tardiness" the oily man said. Harry sighed and slipped into the seat. He looked over at Hermione, who was so tense her hands were shaking, and her silver bracelet was rattling against the table because of it. Harry placed his hand over it and she whispered an apology as she moved her arms to prevent the sound. Harry turned to the Professor as he made it to the front of the class and began his speech.

"First year potions with Gryffindors and Slytherins. My, how the planets align themselves. I am here to make sure that you invalids learn the masterful art of concocting magical combinations without magic. I do not expect you to appreciate the work that goes into potion making, nor how its' power exceeds any wand waving you will ever be able to do. I will show you how to make potions of death, of life, of greatness, and of strife. If you make any mistakes in my class, you will be quickly and severely punished. I will not have any foolishness, and I will not tolerate any misbehavior. I will call the attendance, say 'present' when your, and only your name is called." He started down the role and Harry took out a parchment to take notes. As he finished the attendance, he turned back to the class.

"Now, you all should have read chapter one by today…" a wave of groans crossed the room, and Harry saw Hermione let out a sigh and relax a little, "and so we will start with the topics of the chapter. Mr. Malfoy, what is the difference between simmering and boiling?" Harry turned to the blonde arrogant boy. 

"Simmering takes a long time, and boiling only a short amount of time?" the boy said without conviction.

"You should read you text closer. The difference is that simmering extracts materials for a desired effect, and boiling is to destroy impurities. Mr…Mutton. Yes, Mr. Late, what is the difference between a Gorbot and Liscenistries?" Snape hissed.

"Um, well, a Gorbots _are_ Liscenistries, along with Riobites and Gortirras" Harry said. He was surprised he remembered that.

"Five from Gryffindor for hesitation, but otherwise correct. Lets see if you know the standard unit of measure for powders" Snape said.

"Um…" he said as he thought about it. He saw Hermione raise her hand. He tried to think back to when he had to order his materials from a catalogue and they had three different ways of measuring powders, he had a one in three chance. "Fairy Wing Piles?"

"Yes, Mutton, but I am asking the questions here, not you. Three points from Gryffindor. One more for our little know-it-all. What precautions must you take to ensure the absolute accuracy of any potion you are making?"

"There isn't a way is there? I mean, you can measure exactly and do everything perfectly and there is still a chance it won't work out right" Harry said.

"An example?" Snape persisted. 

"Wolfsbane often doesn't work out right despite everything being measured perfectly and timed to the second which is why when they make it, they make a lot of cauldrons at a time to make sure they at least get some from the concocting" Harry responded.

"Quite right, but you should not know such things, may I ask where you came across such information?" Snape pressed. Harry could first of all tell it wasn't a question, but a command, also he saw that the class was looking at him queerly.

"Yeah, it was in the Young Wizards Discovery Series, the Potions volume…hey, didn't you write that one?" Harry asked. The class watched as Snape's chest swelled slightly. 

"Yes, well, I was asked to do it, and felt that young wizards could do well with some basic backing before they came for a formal education. Achem, back to the lesson. Eight points to Gryffindor for…preparing for class. Now, turn to page eight in your books. We will be copying all of the…" Snape went on. Even Harry was stunned by this one. He did as he was instructed but kept repeating the words in his head. Could big, cruel, evil Snape really _give_ points to a Gryffindor? Didn't it break some sort of rule? _But what rule have you planned on not breaking while you're here?_ His brain argued. He went to work and rubbed his temples as he felt a headache coming on.

/\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/

            Once again, Harry was in the center of a large group in the common room. Everyone asking him all sorts of questions. "How did you do it?", "What's next, world domination?", "Are you related to Dumbledore?" All of the questions were ridiculous but in some weird twisted way, he felt he would probably be asking the same ones. He felt really alienated. After lunch, because there was no class, he had gone to the library with Hermione to discuss magical cooking, while there he ran into Remus again who looked on the edge of tears. Harry did notice that when ever he brought up Sirius**, by talking about his Godfather, Remus would change the subject. It made the conversation much more challenging, and by the looks Hermione was giving them, she noticed it too. As dinner came around, Harry separated from Remus and realized they had been arguing over the use of dungbombs, whether they were an effective tool or just a silly nuisance. Harry felt that they were a nuisance and not creative enough for his liking. Remus maintained that they were the perfect distraction and useful in creating spontaneous trouble. The argument got so heated at times that Madame Pince beat Remus on the head with a rolled up copy of the Daily Prophet.**

            Hermione kept thinking about the conversation between Harry and Remus. They acted like two children, and seemed to fit so well together. They acted** like they were long lost friends. She caught on that Remus knew Harry's father well, but the joy that entered the man's eyes as he discussed such foolish things with the boy was remarkable. The wrinkles that appeared as he smiled led her to believe he hadn't smiled in years. Harry seemed quite pleased to have acquired a new friend, especially one with such profound knowledge in the art of annoyance and deception.**

            Dinner neared and Harry reluctantly said his good-byes to Remus. It would be the first time Hermione would have to drag him from the library. Harry was definitely in high spirits as he skipped to the great hall with her.

            "You look like an idiot, like your smiling at nothing" she said. His chipperness was getting on her nerves. 

            "You just don't want me to enjoy myself, while you waste time pouring over tons of nonsense written in all those useless books you read" Harry said back, his smile never fading. 

            "How can you say it's nonsense?" she retorted. 

            "Well, the way I see it, you already know all of it, so your time reading it is wasted. We only have so much time in our lives. It'd be a pity to waste so much on stuff you already know" Harry said wisely. She seemed a little defeated. "Don't look so down. We can study after dinner if you really want to. Or you can take a break from the books and we can do something fun" he said smiling meekly at her.

            "What do you mean by fun" she said suspiciously as he held the doors to the great hall open for her.

            "We could play wizard's chess, or Snap…" Harry began as they sat down.

            "I don't know how to play snap" she said.

            "Well, we can play wizard's chess, and eat every flavor beans…" Harry began.

            "Yeah, why don't you start with dinner, before you get ahead of yourself" Hermione said as Harry noticed he was the only person with an empty dish. He mumbled something about 'just being friendly' and took a chop from the serving tray. 

About halfway through dinner when evening plans were being made, a tapping on a glass grabbed everyone's attention. They turned to the staff table and saw the Headmaster was standing. 

"I hope you have enjoyed your supper. You may have seen a certain individual wandering around the castle. I am now going to properly introduce you to Remus Lupin. He attended Gryffindor as youngster, and was visiting today to reacquaint himself with a friend from long ago. He has had various occupations in his life, such as being chief strategist in the war against Voldemort, a reserve Auror for the Ministry of Magic, and an independent researcher for the Magitec Company. If any seventh years have questions regarding their plans after graduation, Mr. Lupin can be a very useful tool in assessing your future. Please, continue your meals" Dumbledore said as he sat down. 

Harry tossed a pea. It missed. Hermione gave him a glare as he tossed another. Too far. He ignored her look and tossed one more. Hermione heard a "yow" from near the other end of the table. She leaned forward and saw that Fred, or was it George, was staring down at Harry with a less than pleased expression. Harry was mouthing something to them, but they weren't getting it. One of the twins got up and came down the table. He kneeled behind Harry, which Hermione supposed was better than pushing her aside, like last time.

"Why the pea launching, Harry?" the twin asked. Harry nodded up towards the staff table.

"Moony" Harry said. 

"Moony? What's Moony?" The twin asked. Hermione caught the other twin giving her a questioning look from the far end of the table. She returned it with the same expression.

"Moony, you know, Moony. Padfoot, Prongs, Moony, and Wormtail. _Moony." Harry said with great disappointment. _

"Oh. Oh, oh, oh. That's Moony!?!? Really? No bullocks?" the twin seemed to look at the staff table with awe. "Merlin's arse! And he was successful anyway! Wait till Mum finds out. Hah. This is wonderful. Thanks mate. Oh, you can get the, umm, thing you wanted, from us later. We'll be…around" the twin said as he stood and made his way quickly back to his brother. They whispered quietly to one another, and in seconds they were both glancing up at the staff table. Evil grins gracing their faces. 

"See, when you're nice to people, you get stuff in return" Harry said with a smile. 

"Yeah, he's going to give you that 'umm, thing you wanted'" she said in a relatively decent and very sarcastic impersonation. 

"Don't be mean. I really wanted that thing. It used to be my father's" Harry said.

"I know, all you men want is your things" Hermione responded, earning her a very queer look from Harry.

"What exactly, are you talking about?" Harry asked.

"Umm, I don't know, my mum always says that to my dad. I think I know, but I'm not so sure, and when thinking about it, I think your right in that it was not a good thing to say" she responded. He hated it. She ruined the entire conversation. He finished his pudding and got up to leave. Hermione stood up to but stopped when she saw that Harry wasn't going anywhere. He was looking at her as if waiting for something. She was waiting for him to say something. Finally, he did. 

"Chess, is it?"

Another chapter done. I know this took a while, but I had it beta-ed, so it should have fewer mistakes for your reading pleasure. That calls for a big thank you to **WretchedMongrel****. Alrighty then. Sorry this took so long, but I am a terrible procrastinator, blame my libido. Thanks for the reviews, and I hope to see some more.**

**great**** marauder, cyberfrogx, everpresent, Mystic Queen, and**** DaBear, thank you.******


	10. Challenges

            Harry was smirking at her. She was so nervous she would begin biting her fingernails, but as soon as she realized she was doing this, her arm would fly down to her side. Harry smirked even more. It was interesting to watch her squirm. He knew she was looking at every single possibility. 

            "Knight to f4" she said. The piece moved itself.

            "Bishop to g7, check" Harry said without hesitation. The game was over. 

            "Queen to g7," she responded. 

            "Rook to g7," Harry said. Her king was on f8 and couldn't take his rook. It was protected by a well placed pawn. She had nowhere to move her king and advanced a pawn. 

            "Rook to b8, checkmate," Harry said. His other rook moved to the position, and her king exploded in a shower of sparks. He felt victorious inside but tried very hard not to let it show. "You'll get better with time. Don't fuss over it," Harry attempted.

            "That's easy for you to say. And what happened to having fun? I don't call losing three times fun," she remarked. Harry was going to respond, suggesting they play exploding snap or something, but before he could speak his thoughts were interrupted.

            "So you must be good, to have beaten a know-it-all in chess. It seems like she isn't very good. Why not give a real chess player a chance?" came the stinging voice of Ronald Weasley.

            "Do you know every single thing to know about every single thing in the universe?" Harry asked Hermione. She shook her head. "Well then, Weasley, why do you label her as such, when it is not only a false insult, but a meaningless one? Calling someone a know-it-all only labels yourself as a fool for knowing less then they do. And I would rather eat a Snout-fish pie then have to sit through a chess game with you," Harry said.

            "You're just scared you'll loose," Ron said. 

            "Yeah, Harry. Why don't you play him? I may not be so good at it, but it would be fun to watch you two go at it," Hermione said. This caught Harry's attention.

            "You would really enjoy it?" Harry asked her.

            "What does it matter if she enjoys it or not?" Weasley asked.

            "Shut up! Hermione, would you really want to see it?" Harry asked again. She nodded, just to see what would happen. She didn't tell Harry, but she had seen Ron beat all of his siblings and then a few other older students the day before. She was sure Harry would be walloped. 

            "Alright Weasley, Black or White?" Harry asked as Hermione got up, giving her seat to Ron.

            "Black. You can have the first move" Ron responded.

            "Fine. Pawn at e2, to e3" Harry stated simply. Hermione caught a glimmer in his eye. He was thinking something not entirely pure.

            "Knight at b8 to c6" Ron said. Ron smiled as a group of spectators came around. He was going to have witnesses to his victory.

            "Bishop at f1 to c4" Harry said. 

            "Knight at c6 to e5" Ron responded. Harry hadn't thought that was going to happen, but he didn't think it would change his plans.

            "Bishop at c4 to b3" Harry said, seeing his bishop threatened. 

            "Scared of a sacrifice, Mutton? Knight at e5 to g6" said Ron. He pulled his piece back and out from the middle of the board where it could be threatened from far away. 

            "Queen to f3" Harry said. He only had one move to make. He was gambling on the self-conscious Weasley to not see it in his efforts to get attention.

            "Bringing out the strong pieces so soon? It's not advised, but it's your decision. Pawn at e7 to e5" Ron said. It was still clear. It was still available. It was begging to be said. 

            "Queen, love, being at f3. Please proceed to f7. Checkmate" Harry said, a queer smile crossing his face. Sirius had taught him that one. 

            "Let's no get too ahead of ourselves. You can't win at chess by just…" The queen stopped as it rested at the spot Harry had designated. There was a flash of light as Ron's king exploded, as well as all of his pieces. Ron fell silent with a dumb expression across his face. People started laughing. Harry saw Hermione was trying to hold down the giggles. 

            "By the way, Weasley, I am not very good at chess. And what I did is simple to defend against. The only reason I won was because you were snotty, and you didn't pay attention. What was that, five moves? I'll let you think about it." Harry got up and went with Hermione towards an empty couch. It was in a darker corner of the common room, but it was the only available seats, and they had no where else to go. "Was I entertaining enough for you?" Harry asked.

            "Not at all. Ronald was funny, though. You made the game too short for anyone to enjoy, except yourself." Hermione quipped. "You know he would have beaten you anyway," she said. They were sitting next to each other. 

            "I don't think so. The odds were definitely in his favor, but he plays the chess game well. I play the mind game well. It would have been a good fight. Once you give him something to focus on, it's all he thinks about. He can't see the entire board, like you were trying to do when you took twenty minutes to make one move ("It wasn't nearly that long" she retorted). He simply cannot see more than he wants to, and I can manipulate that fault in his game. Tonight was just an extreme example" Harry finished matter-of-factly. Hermione smiled mischievously at him and leaned back in the chair. 

            "If you claim to be so good at knowing about people's minds, tell me about mine" Hermione said. She meant it as a joke, to make him bluff with this entire mind game concept.

            "Well, to start you, love reading, that much is clear as day. But you do not enjoy doing the work nearly as much as you let on. You don't mind reading the textbooks, but when it comes to writing the essays, you exaggerate your interest. You fear being the center of attention, or being in the center of a group. You can talk to anyone fearlessly, but when there's an audience you falter and stay quiet. You started hanging around me because we met by chance and you were fascinated by my knowledge of the wizarding world, and I feel that you like to be around me not only as a distraction from work and boredom and being lonely, but you're curious as to what I'll come up with next. When you start something, you absolutely cannot stop doing it or start anything else for fear of loosing your focus or not returning. That, and if there's one thing you can't stand, it's being humiliated or blatant and obvious stupidity, whether intended or not." Harry turned his head to see that she was shaking and her face had turned beet red, despite being hidden in the shadows. "What?" Harry asked. He thought he was right. He had to at least be close.

            "You read my diary," she hissed with fury above any other. 

            "You have a diary? I didn't think of that, but I suppose it fits. I mean, you probably need a place to put your feelings that you don't want to talk to me about. I noticed you aren't buddy-buddy with your dorm-mates," Harry said nonplused. 

            "How could you know all that? You can't have figured it out in less than a week. It isn't possible. Not that, but it isn't right. No one can read people that way. This is too strange. It makes me feel like you're a stalker or something…but I know your not," she finished quickly. She didn't want to insult him.

            "I know you feel weird about it. I had to learn how to read people. My-" Harry began.

            "Godfather," Hermione stated plainly. Harry looked at her with a brief smile.

            "He was very protective of me, and when anything happened he always acted the same way. It could be he was happy or sad. He always acted the same way. It took me a long time to read his emotions, because after he got me, he had years to practice putting on the happy face so people wouldn't feel bad for him. It's not a gift or anything, it's a learned thing, but I did it out of need, and it helps me understand the people that I meet. That way I can get along better with everyone," Harry explained. Hermione just looked at him in silence. "It's true, I swear on my parents' graves," Harry said. 

            "I believe you, Harry. It's just so hard sometimes, because you really are an extraordinary person. It's like…I'm only saying this because I can't think of anything else. It's like you're too good to be true, like you know so much more than everyone else. Like you're a lot older than us," Hermione said. She kept moving closer to him as she tried to explain it. 

            "I suppose I did have to get mature pretty early. It happens. I don't suppose you expect me to start crying about losing my childhood and all of that. I more than make for it in pranks," Harry smiled at her. He realized how close they had gotten. There was a lot of free space of the couch not being used. He saw that Hermione seemed to notice as well and scooted away a little. 

            "It's getting late. Perhaps we should get ready for bed," Hermione stated. Harry glanced outside, and saw that the sun was half set. 

            "I would, but I have to meet Oliver on the pitch. You go to sleep though, you look tired," Harry said as he gave her a little nudge of encouragement.

            "Wait, you're going to play that game. Quid. Quidrachet. Quidpatch…"

            "Quidditch," Harry corrected her.

            "That's it. Quidditch. I'd like to watch if you wouldn't mind. I know that it's supposed to be a secret and all-" Hermione began.

            "Not at all. You can come if you feel up to it. I know you can be trusted," Harry said. 

            "I think you're too trusting. You've only known me a few days," Hermione said. Harry could tell she was being too modest.

            "You never told on us about the shaving cream. That proved I could trust you," Harry said, looking at her eyes with sincerity. She couldn't meet the gaze and turned to look into the common room. "I have to get my broom. I'll be back in a few minutes, and then may I have the honor of accompanying you down to the Quidditch pitch?" Harry asked. He was getting dramatic again, and a smile crossed her face. 

            "You forget, it'll be me accompanying you," she said as he stood up. He rolled his eyes and nodded his head before jogging up the stairs to the boy's dormitories. He came down only a minute later, with an anxious smile on his face. 

            "Here we go" Harry said as they started out. From the time he went up to get his broom, he had been getting more and more excited. They walked in silence, but she could feel the tension inside of him. He was nervous about his training, that was for sure. As they passed through the main entrance, Hermione swore she saw Harry's eyes look out over the lake, ad then flash quickly back to the quidditch pitch where they were heading. She saw it happen a few more times. In the glow from the sky, his green eyes took a bluish twinge as he kept glancing at the lake.

            "Expecting someone?" she asked. She had originally felt that his mysteriousness was fine and that he didn't say things for a reason, but now it was just getting annoying. 

            "Um, no. I'm just looking for the squid. She thought she saw him blush a little, and noted that he never glanced back in that direction. They approached the pitch in silence. Awe appeared in Harry's eyes as he looked around. There was a parchment on the ground which Hermione picked up. She read it for a second, and handed it to Harry. He looked down and read it.

                        _Sorry Harry,_

_                                    Small problem will make me late. Feel free to fly around and get used to the broom. I left the best school broom I could find for you under the Ravenclaw section of the stands. I should be there soon._

_                                    Wood_

Harry shrugged it off and pulled something out of his pocket. He enlarged it. Hermione remembered the brooms they had used for flying lessons, and compared it with his. His was newer, it was smooth and shiny, and the twigs in the back were streamlined and aerodynamic. 

            "Nimbus 2000?" Hermione read from the handle.

            "Yup, best in the world. The official broom of the Irish National Team," Harry responded. 

            "So this game is played on broomsticks? What if you fall off, won't you get hurt?" Hermione stated worriedly. 

            "Yes, but you don't fall off. That's why you need skill to play. They want me to play seeker. My dad was a chaser, and my godfather was a beater. There are 3 chasers, two beaters, one keeper and one seeker. There is this big red ball, the quaffle, kind of like a football. The chasers pass it between themselves and try to throw it through one of those three hoops up there. The keeper on the other team tries to stop them. The beaters have these clubs which they use to hit these balls called bludgers. Bludgers fly around and try to knock the nearest person off their broom. Then there is the snitch. It's a very small golden ball with wings. It flies around like a hummingbird and is very difficult to catch. That's the seeker's job. Each time you get the quaffle through the hoops, your team gets ten points, but whichever team catches the snitch first gets one hundred and fifty points, and when the snitch is caught, the game ends, so the team that gets the snitch usually wins," Harry said with a strange euphoria. Hermione began to understand why this was such an important game. It sounded like it was incredibly entertaining.

            "Is it dangerous?" she asked. She had to know if she was handing her only friend into death's hands. 

            "People get injured all of the time, but you rarely if ever die," Harry said.

            "Rarely die? I was under the impression that once you die, that was it," Hermione stated with growing anxiety. It helped that Harry chuckled at her.

            "Don't worry about it. I mean that it is very rare for someone to die in quidditch. There has been only a few deaths in the last few years, so you have nothing to worry about." Harry turned his attention back out to the pitch. It was getting quite dark by now, and the crickets started chirping, making a very relaxing environment. 

            "Why don't you fly up there and have a go on your broom. I'd like to see how it's supposed to be done," Hermione said. She didn't expect Harry's guilty look. 

            "I don't want to leave you alone, here on the ground by yourself. It's ungentlemanly," Harry argued. Hermione could tell immediately that it was forced. He was going against what he wanted to do because he felt it would be at her expense. 

            "Stop being such a fool and get out there, Mutton," Hermione said.

            "If you insist…" Harry said slowly, looking back out over the empty pitch. She gave him a strong push and he stumbled into the arena.

            "I'm going to go up into the stands to watch. Don't hurt yourself too badly. I don't know enough magic to save you," She joked. Harry shook his head and mounted his broom. He rose slowly off the ground, and just seemed to hover a few feet above the ground. As if that was all he was expected to do. Hermione turned to her left to go to the stands. But she heard a voice and stopped. 

            "Hey, hey girly, over here," she heard from behind her. She turned around and wished she had brought her wand. She walked slowly to where the sound was coming from, ready to scream if anything happened. As she neared the tower of stairs, which went up to the stands, two boys came out of it. It was the twins from Gryffindor house. She thought they said they were in third year. 

            "What do you want?" she asked as they presented themselves. They approached her, holding out their hands in a friendly manner.

            "Fred and George Weasley, at your service," said one.

            "We're the beaters for Gryffindor team. Actually the entire team is sitting up this way. We found the best seat to watch Mutton from," said the other.

            "And we are extending an invitation for you to join us," said the other. Hermione nodded in agreement, but she was still suspicious of them. Her mother told her to be suspicious of men who wanted to lead her into isolated places. As they were walking up the stairs up to the stands, the one just in front of her started talking.

            "Just be very quite. We don't want him to know we're here," he said. She nodded as they made it out onto the platform. She was relieved to see four other people sitting on the front bench, watching as Harry flew in circles around in the air. 

            "These are our chasers, Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson, and Alicia Spinnet," one said. All three girls offered Hermione a smile. She smiled back nervously.

            "And this is Oliver Wood, our captain," the other said. The captain glanced at her, and went immediately back to watching Harry fly around. 

            "We miss anything?" said one of the twins.

            "No, he's only been warming up," said Angelina.

            "I thought you were going to be late?" Hermione said to Oliver.

            "And I will be. I just want to see how he flies, first. I'm a bit doubtful of the skill Professor McGonagal says he has. I want to see how good he is before I start training him. Then I still have the ability to find someone else. I doubt we'll ever find anyone to replace Charlie Weasley. Man, was he fast," Oliver stated. Hermione heard a few murmurs of agreement. "We're already a young team. I'm the oldest and I'm a fourth year. I was almost hoping to find someone older as the seeker," he said to no one in particular and no one responded. They just watched Harry. Hermione let out an audible gasp as Harry performed a lazy loop. The others looked at her.

            "You've never seen a quidditch match, have you?" asked the girl named Alicia. 

            "No, My parents are muggles-" Hermione began.

            "Bloody Christ," George Weasley said, "when is this going to get interesting?" he asked. Hermione had no idea what he was talking about. The fast moves Harry was doing were scaring the life out of her and they thought he wasn't doing anything? She decided to ignore the comment and keep watching.

            "Give him time. When he becomes bored and needs to be excited, he'll do it. Some of us don't get bored so easily," said Oliver, eyeing the twins with a certain accusing glare. After a few more minutes, Hermione shifted uneasily as Harry began to circle the field going faster and faster. 

            "Alright, let the games begin. Angelina, take these notes," Oliver said. Harry was soon going very fast. "His speed is sufficient, although not incredible for a Nimbus 2000. I didn't know he had a broom, but supposing that he did, the one he has is well chosen." There were a few more seconds as Harry increased speed. "Up that to good speed, Angelina. Good control in turns at high speed. He hasn't even attempted any sharp turns yet." As if on cue, Harry did a sudden dive at high speeds, he rolled over in the broom as he faced the ground and pulled up, leveling out in the opposite direction from which he came. He lifted the nose of his broom and shot into the sky, before turning it downwards and diving down at the ground. Hermione shrieked as Harry pulled up, coming so close to the ground that Hermione was sure he would crash, she covered her eyes with her hands. Harry was still at a very high speed as he started doing loops and corkscrews, and barrel rolls. He was flying over the stands, low enough that if Hermione dared to lift her hand, she was positive he would hit it. Harry made another sharp turn into the field and pointed up straight into the air. He was going slow as he gained height, and stopped at a great altitude, silhouetting himself against the dying light of the sky. He suddenly dove towards the ground.

            "Hey, Harry, CATCH THIS!" yelled Oliver. Hermione watched as Oliver stood and tossed a golf ball a few feet into the air. As it came down in front of them, one of the twins struck it with a bat, and the white ball flew into the field, staying visible despite the failing light. She watched as Harry changed his direction towards the ball. Hermione began biting her fingernails as Harry kept diving despite its close proximity to the ground. As he neared it, she saw the golf ball suddenly disappear into the shadows. She couldn't see Harry, his dark shape hiding in the darkness of the trees behind him. She heard the wind blowing against something, and in seconds Harry was hovering above the group of them. He hopped off his broom with an odd expression on his face. Hermione felt it looked like betrayal. 

            "I didn't know I had an audience," he said harshly.

            "Bloody brilliant, Harry," said the twin who had hit the ball with his club.

            "Truly amazing," said the other twin.

            "Angelina, read off what I told you to write down," Oliver said, Hermione noticed his greatly improved mood.

            "Yes, well. His speed is good for being on a Nimbus 2000, not incredible. Good control in turns at high speed, no sharp turns," Angelina said.

            "That's it?" Oliver asked, baffled.

            "Yup. I can only take the notes when you say them. If little Harry over here stuns you into silence, than I can't very well write down your thoughts now, can I?" she retorted. Harry got and approving look from Angelina, and Katie seemed to be looking over him too. She placed her hands on his shoulders and squeezed. Then his upper arms, and his wrists. She placed her hands on his sides and Harry squirmed out of her grip.

            "Get your hands off me!" Harry said as he turned to face her. He wasn't accustomed to being molested. 

            "He's a bit scrawny. Small and light may be good for a seeker, but I don't think this small is healthy. He's skin and bones, he is. I could almost fit my hands around his midsection. I wish I was that thin," she said with a wink to Harry. He stepped back again, and eyed the crowd.

            "Who are these people?" Harry asked. 

            "Why, you don't recognize your own quidditch team?" said one of the twins. 

            "The three girls, Alicia, Angelina, and Katie are the chasers, the Weasleys are the beaters, and I am your captain and keeper. Is that clear?" Oliver said. Harry nodded. "Good. We practice everyday after classes, rain or shine (there were moans from the twins), and you will probably have to train the hardest, considering that you have no experience. As of now you can consider yourself on the team. You also need to eat. Your being thin is an asset, but if you are too thin, the other seekers will push you around. I want you, and everyone else for that matter, to be here at four o'clock tomorrow. I was lucky enough to get to Madame Hooch first, and with much pushing I was able to secure the pitch for us for every day from four to seven minus Hogsmeade days. I want to win this year, and I will do everything to do so." With those words, he turned and left. 

            Angelina, Alicia, and Katie, all congratulated him and followed Oliver. Fred and George handed Harry a blank parchment, winking at him, before pulling out a small bag of dung bombs and headed towards the castle with evil grins. Harry shrunk his broom and slipped it in his pocket. He would place it back in the secret compartment of his trunk. He turned to Hermione, who in the growing moonlight, appeared very pale. He attributed it to the light of the moon.

            "So I guess I did alright," Harry said plainly to her as he led her down the stairs. 

            "You scared the living daylights out of me," she said. She examined the two fingers on which she effectively shortened the nails. 

            "You'll grow to love it. I know you will," reassured Harry. As they were walking up to the castle, Hermione gasped and abruptly stopped. Just in front of them was the huge man who had taken them across the lake upon their arrival to Hogwarts.

            "Firs' years ain't teh be outside when it's dark. Yeh could be hurt, or worse, eaten by the creatures in the forbidden forest. Go on, git in teh the castle. I won't tell nobody. Jus' get in there," he said.

            "What's your name?" Harry asked. Hermione stopped as she had resumed walking towards the castle.

            "Oh, um. Hagrid. Rubeus Hagrid, the keeper of the keys." He said in his deep, rumbling voice.

            "I thought I had heard of you somewhere. My godfather talked about you a few times. He said that you always had some sort of rare or powerful creature in storage. He said that you knew more about magical creatures than anyone he ever knew," Harry said. He was surprised to see the man wipe a tear away from his hairy face. 

            "Oh, well, I don' really know so much abou' creatures. I jus' really… really like 'em, and they like me in return," the man said with pride and kindness filling his eyes. "Yeh really should git back to the castle, but if yeh ever want to have a cuppa tea, yeh can always come to me hut, 'ts over there, near the fores'," He said. Harry nodded. 

            "Okay. I will come by and see you. Thank you for not getting us in trouble," Harry said. He walked around the man and he and Hermione continued towards the entrance to the school. The giant of a man walked towards his hut muttering about "sweet little lads." 

            "Why would you go and have tea with him? He's so scary!" Hermione said.

            "He was awfully nice to us. To refuse his offer would be insulting after such kindness. Plus, my godfather told me about him. He had his wand snapped when he was a student for something he didn't do, that's why Dumbledore had him remain as the keeper of the keys. Dumbledore really has his heart in the right place," Harry said.

            "Why, thank you for such a deep compliment," said a voice from behind them. Harry turned to face the headmaster. 

            "Don't look so scared, my boy. You haven't done anything wrong. I won't take away points for being only a few minutes late, especially when the reason for your lateness is so important to your house. You have taken a key position Harry. One your parents would have been proud of." Harry looked at the ground when he said this. "I am sure they are proud of you Harry. Many of us are proud of you," the Headmaster said. He walked to another corridor and left Hermione and Harry to their own path. Hermione sensed that Harry didn't want to talk about his parents.

            "So you really are going to have tea with the keeper of the keys?" Hermione asked, trying to get Harry back on topic. He nodded in response. 

            "In that case…can I come along?" she asked. He only smiled. 

Goodness, all of these reviews. I like this. Okay, here's how it goes. This is an update, and I hope you like it, and I wish that you would be nice enough to leave a review so I can improve any way conceivable. Just say what you think.

**great**** marauder- Ron isn't going to be a wimp, he's going to be a prat. In fact, he's going to be a great big prat. Perhaps even bigger than Malfoy. Harry and Hermione romance? I'm just curious, how many romantic escapades did you have at eleven?**

**Muirnin**- Don't we all love Harry and Hermione together…at least we all should. Thanks for all the reviews, and I don't think I will make Hermione a prankster…directly. Maybe she'll help out behind the scenes. 

**cyberfrogX- I hope so. Otherwise I don't think it would be worth it.**

**MerlinHalliwell**- McGonagal is going to absolutely adore being made crazy. Oh, the humanity…or lack thereof.

**DaBear**- Libido. It's not what you're thinking. Your libido is your internal energy which drives you to do certain things. Including, but not limited to eating, getting out of bed, consorting with members of the opposite sex…My libido was off for a while, don't take that the wrong way. And why use dungbombs when you can use filibuster fireworks to create not only a distraction, but a smokescreen. I would prefer the fireworks. 

Thanks to **Blinky, and **GunSmoke** as well. Hope you liked it.**


	11. Red Handed

            They were nearing the portrait of the Fat Lady when Harry suddenly stopped. An odd expression crossed his face which Hermione immediately noticed. 

            "What is it?" she inquired, genuinely concerned. 

            "I left my wand down at the pitch, I'd better go and get it. It may not still be there tomorrow morning," Harry said. He looked a little anxious about it. 

            "You had your wand? Are you sure, I don't remember you-" she began.

            "I left it in the Slytherin stands so I would remember to get it. I figured I would remember if I left it in Slytherin. I really have to get it," Harry said. He turned around and began marching back. She came up next to him.

            "I'll go with you," she said as her yawn came into completion. 

            "No. If we get caught, we'll loose twice as many points, and you're tired anyway. I'll be fine," Harry tried. She didn't stop or turn around. 

            "I was just going to keep you company" she said. He stopped suddenly.

            "Look, Hermione. I really don't need you to come with me on this. I am just getting my wand and coming right back. You should go to sleep. We have classes tomorrow and you don't need to be yawning through them. Just go back to the common room. I assure you I'll be fine." His words were sharper than she expected, and she felt slightly insulted. He turned sharply and started down the many staircases back to the main entrance. This time she didn't follow him. She hung her head and kicked at invisible stones as she walked slowly back to the Fat Lady.  

/\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/

            Harry sighed as soon as he was out of hearing distance of Hermione. He wanted to be kinder to her, but he didn't have the time, and his patience was running out. He silenced his feet with '_Quietus_' as he ran through the castle. In only a very short amount of time he made it to the entrance hall. He glanced around, before cracking open the door and slipping into the darkness. The overcast evening made the world very dark, a good cover for what he was doing. He stepped away from the entrance and down the steps until he was about halfway to the hut of the keeper of the keys. He picked up a blade of grass and placed it taught between his two thumbs. He brought his thumbs up to his lips, and blew. 

            The sound was loud, and he was sure people in the castle would hear, but he was betting that he could get away before they found him. He waited a second. Nothing happened. He blew three more loud notes. He waited a little longer this time. And there it was; a faint barking to his right. Harry turned into a creature and listened. His hearing was sharper as a creature. He could tell how far away the barking was. Not numerically, but instinctively, he knew how far he had to go. He took off at a sprint, and he was pleased with his speed. No human could catch him when he was in this form. It wasn't long before a he let out a soft growl. He got one in return. He walked over to it, only thirty feet within the forbidden forest, and there was a large, shaggy, black dog. Harry turned back, and smiled. He had missed this. 

            "I have something to show you," Harry said, as the dog became Harry's godfather. 

            "Well, let's see it." There was a pop, and Harry's creature of a large brown bear was not there, instead, was a complete animagus form of a black panther. It blended in so well in the darkness, that Sirius could only make out the eyes. There was another soft pop, and his godson was standing again, and simply beaming. "Well done, you're a quick study when you have a good teacher," said Sirius, as he blew on invisible rings and cleaned them on his shirt, looking very much pompous and arrogant. Harry laughed.

            "It took the longest time to do the face. It was so hard to get the eyes and the nose lined up. More than once I thought I had gone too far and messed myself up for life," Harry said, as his smile never faltered. 

            "Well, it happens to the best of us. How much time do you have?" Sirius asked. 

            "All night, why?" Harry returned. 

            "I need to talk to you about something. I need to train your thinking, so we can fool the aurors. I was hoping you'd be able to spend the night with me. Are you sure no one is going to go looking for you, no one is waiting up for you?" Sirius said, with a sly wink. 

            "I'm sure" Harry said. Sirius signaled for Harry to follow, and they transformed before walking slowly, deeper into the forest. 

/\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/

            At that time, there _was_ someone waiting up for him. Hermione was sitting in the chair by the fire, waiting for Harry to come back from getting his wand. He had told her to go to sleep, but she felt that it was her responsibility to make sure he didn't loose them house points, or even get killed. She had a hell of a time keeping her eyes opened, as sleep fought for its way. She watched as most of the students departed and went to bed, and she became increasingly worried as time went by. Maybe he got caught. Maybe one of the creatures came out of the forest and ate him. Maybe he would never be seen again. She shivered despite herself. 

            She kept checking the clock. Midnight, one o'clock, two o'clock, sometime after that she lost the battle and sleep claimed her, but not before she had one final thought, '_If he's dead and rotting, then it's his own bloody fault_.'

/\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/

            Harry sighed as he scaled the stairs. It had been an exhausting night. He would now have to think of everything about Sirius two different ways. He had to calculate the next time he would see his godfather…in hours. He had to think of hours as days. He was going to see Sirius in twelve days, he had to think of it as being 288 days. He was going to see Sirius in four days, he had to think of it as ninety six days. All this effort for aurors. Damn aurors. Damn bureaucracy. Damn society. He didn't like having to do all this extra work 'just-in-case' someone found out who he really was. Right now he was going to take a shower, get dressed, eat breakfast, and sleep through whatever classes he had today.

            He smiled as he touched his neck and arms. Sirius had cut him up real good, with the biting and scuffling they had done, but as soon as Harry was human again, all the marks from the few hours they spent playing in the forest were gone. He was still dirty and smelled like…dung, oddly he felt very happy about that. He wondered if there was something wrong with him. He got to the Fat Lady, who was still sleeping. 

            "Fairy Tails," Harry said. 

            "Sorry, I don't care for such stories," the Fat Lady responded, despite appearing to still be asleep. 

            "Not tales, as in a story. Tails of a Fairy. Fairy Tails!" Harry said. He was too tired for this. 

            "Why didn't you say so in the first place?" She asked sleepily as she opened for him. He looked at her with frustration before walking in, and slamming the portrait behind him harder than he needed to. The sound of the door slamming awoke the one person in the common room. He suddenly wished he could go back twenty seconds and enter quietly but it was too late. She looked at him, surprise written all over her face. She glanced outside, at the brightening day, glanced at her watch, and then glared at him. He knew she was about to yell so he ran over and covered her mouth with his hand. He wasn't a second too soon. She started to struggle against him, but he was too strong. 

            "I'll let you go, just don't yell, don't yell and I'll let you go, ok? Just promise me you won't yell. Do you promise?" He asked. He waited until she said something into his hand which vague resembled 'I promise.' She glared at him, and true to her promise, she didn't yell. She glared and her jaw was tight, probably keeping the yells inside her mouth…for now. 

            "Did you find your wand?" she hissed. He sheepishly pulled the slender wooden object from his pocket. She still glared. "I was up until two o'clock waiting for you. And did you come back? No! You were off probably getting…doing something illegal and you lied to me! How could you look me in the eye and lie to me!?!?!?" she said, her volume growing. 

            "I had good reason," Harry responded. He couldn't think of anything to say.

            "Of course you did…" she said sarcastically, "…otherwise, you wouldn't have ruddy done it, would you?" she hissed. 

            "Look, if you went to bed like I told you to do, we wouldn't be in this situation" Harry responded. He needed to say something clever. He had to beat her in this wresting of minds. To his amazement, she started chuckling.

            "Would that have change the fact that you lied to me? Would it?" she pressed. "What was so important that you had to wander around all night, and lie to me to get me off your back?" His face fell at this statement. He looked down at his feet. It was as if he was admitting guilt. That, or he was trapped. 

            "I can't tell you," he said sullenly. 

            "Why not?" she asked. Her voice no longer held the malice.

            "Because it's not my decision to make. I can't tell you. People will get in trouble. People who are innocent" Harry said. He was back to looking her in the eye, and she saw that he was deeply affected by this. 

            "I thought you told me just last night that you could trust me," she said. She didn't mean for it to come out as harshly as it did. 

            "I do, but…I just can't tell you. If it was up to me I would, but it's not. I'm…sorry," he said. 

            "I think I should turn you in to Professor McGonagal and have _her ask you where you were last night" Hermione sneered. She was getting fed up with this. He stopped and seemed to think this over. He seemed to feel that this wasn't a bad option for him. She looked him over, and noticed the condition he was in. He smelled like soil, and he was absolutely covered in dirt. He spent the entire night outside, that much was obvious. She suddenly had a sharp pang of guilt. If whatever it was, it was enough to drive someone to spend the whole night outside, it had to be important. _

            "We can go to Professor McGonagal if you like. She would understand," Harry said. 

            "How can _she understand what __you can't tell her?" Hermione mocked. _

            "She knows things that will allow her to understand. I am more than willing to speak with her, although going to Professor Dumbledore would be preferable," Harry said thoughtfully. Hermione fell into a thoughtful silence. "You think it over, while I take a shower," Harry declared. He didn't wait for a response as he climbed up the stairs to the boys' dormitories. 

            She waited, and straightened herself out. After a few minutes Harry came back down in clean clothes and was stench free. She was pleased by this. It was a lot easier to be angry at him when he was clean. It was still much too early for everyone to be waking, so she was relatively confident she had some more time to chastise him. 

            "So…" she began, her mind searching for a place to continue. Unfortunately, anything she had planned to say flew out the window. 

            "Yes?" Harry asked. He sat down, and she noticed that he opened the transfiguration textbook and pulled out a parchment and a never-dip quill. 

            "You didn't do your homework, did you?" she said as if she was speaking down to a child. 

            "I didn't have time" he retorted. She was surprised to see how fast he was writing. It appeared as if the tip of the quill never left the page. 

            "Why, what were you doing?" she asked. He glanced up at her with a look that clearly said 'do-you-really-think-I'm-that-stupid?' He went back to his work, and she began to read it from over his shoulder. His writing was a bit sloppier than she was used to, and the grammatical errors were in plenty, but in only a few minutes he was done with an essay that took her the greater part of three hours. She shook it off, telling herself that she was going to get a much, _much, better mark on it anyway. She was going to begin reprimanding him once again, but to her amazement he pulled the extremely large History of Magic textbook from his very small pocket. He pulled out another blank parchment and was off again, writing faster than she'd ever seen. She sat down across from him and picked up his transfiguration text. If she was going to wait here, she could at least occupy herself. _

            She kept glancing up as he scribbled rapidly across the parchment. She was sure if it had been paper instead of parchment that it would have torn. He was soon done with the History of Magic essay and rooting through various pockets before finding his potions textbook. She saw him copy the potion down before explaining its' uses. She glanced at the stairs to the dormitories as students began to wander down, drunk with sleep and ready for breakfast. They passed by Harry and Hermione, and gave knowing gazes to Harry; they had been in the same situation before, rushing to do the work after an evening of other more interesting activities, it was all too common. Harry closed his potions text and looked over at Hermione. 

            "What do we have after potions today?" he asked. She momentarily debated whether telling him to find out for himself was a proper thing to do.

            "Defense against the dark arts," Hermione said. Harry nodded happily. This would be their first defense against the dark arts class, which meant there was no homework for him to do. He stood and strode quickly to the portrait of the fat lady. "Wait! Where are you going?" she asked accusingly. 

            "To breakfast?" he said, as if it were obvious. Hermione kicked herself for forgetting the morning meal, and stood to follow. She jogged until she came alongside of him, and made sure he saw her constant waves of distrustful looks in his direction. He ignored them and sat between Dean and Seamus at the Gryffindor table. Being blocked out, she walked all the way around the table and took a seat on the other side, across from Harry. They were discussing Harry's quidditch performance the night before. Harry explained what had happened, and that he would be given the chance of being the seeker for Gryffindor. Dean and Seamus were thrilled. Seamus had described the game in total detail to Dean during the last few days using all sorts of books and posters. Dean had become a fanatic despite never having seen a game. 

            Harry turned the discussion over to more sensitive issues, as the three of them started talking in hushed voices. Hermione nibbled her food as she glared at him. How could he be so clueless? She knew he saw that she was giving him her death stare, but he didn't react. He brushed her off and ignored her. Did he think that he was above everyone else and could be unresponsive to her anger? 

            She did notice something. Harry kept yawning. He was tired. She noted the circles under his eyes and she turned back to her eggs. She ate more diligently and she was soon satisfied by the meal. Harry had eaten a lot, but nothing compared to the boy named Ronald who, sitting next to Dean, had consumed more than she thought was humanly possible. Harry stood and suppressed a yawn as he walked with Seamus out of the room. Dean started discussing electricity with Ron who seemed utterly fascinated with the concept. Hermione sighed and picked up her rucksack. It was time to get to class. 

            Hermione watched Harry throughout the day. He finished the assignment in transfiguration and slept the last twenty minutes of class. He slept entirely through History of Magic and lunch, though he did eat very quickly before returning to his slumber. He finished the Rattikis Potion early and slept the rest of class and amazingly enough, Snape let him. And then came defense against the dark arts. Harry seemed to be more awake for that class, as they all entered and took their seats. 

            "My name is Professor Klein. Defense Against the Dark Arts. It used to be the most important subject in this school but now it takes second seat to Transfiguration and Charms. It's sad, really. I don't know what they expect me to do with you first years. You don't know enough magic to actually _do anything, so I suppose I will have to teach you something. How boring. Someone tell me what a dark art is? What are these dark arts you're supposed to defend against? You." The woman said. She wasn't young, but she wasn't old. Maybe she was in her forties. She seemed disciplined and cynical, but carried an air of respect around her. Hermione put down her hand._

            "Yes. The dark arts are characterized by magic pertaining to certain subjects or types of magic. Such as magic surrounding the dead and death" Hermione said excitedly. The woman leaned against her desk and was thoughtful for a few seconds. 

            "Rubbish. Anyone else?" she looked around, registering the looks of shock on the student's faces, and the humiliation on the girl who had answered.  "I'm not going to be friendly with the lot of you. I'm not going to sugarcoat it. You need to know this stuff. Now, does anyone else have an idea?" She saw a hand go up. It was a boy who was sitting in the back corner, and looked like he was ready to pass out.

            "Any magic used for dark or negative purposes in the eyes of society" he said dully. 

            "Excellent. There is nothing different between dark magic, and light magic. Magic is magic. And the definition of dark magic changes so often that they might as well rename this class defense against magic. If I put you under the imperious curse, which gives me total control over you, and I have you kill someone, that's dark magic, but is it dark magic if I use the same spell to stop you from killing someone? So I figure I will teach you how to defend yourselves from curses, spells, hexes, charms, and maybe even a little bit of potions. However, being first years, we probably won't learn that much. Today we'll start with a very simple spell that tosses whatever it is that you shoot it at away from you…" the woman continued. 

Hermione became sucked into the lesson, and was thrilled when she was the first person to be able to successfully complete the spell. She shot her quill across the room, and it bounced harmlessly of the chalk board. Her glee was stopped short when her ink jar was launched across the room as well, but it did a lot more damage than the quill did. The entire front of the classroom was showered in the black liquid, and the teacher became rather upset. Hermione turned to see who was laughing at her, and saw that it was the boys from Slytherin. She guessed that it had to be the blond haired one who had done it. A smirk of success graced his lips. She saw movement behind him, and opened her eyes in surprise. A bottle of Williard's Permanent Magical Ink was floating above the boy's head. It was moving around, as if the person doing the spell didn't have much experience with it. She glanced around the room, and saw that it was Harry. He was staring at the bottle, and his wand was pointed in that direction. She turned just in time to see the jar tip over, and the ink land all over the boy's head. His blond hair turned a very streaky black, as a few locks avoided contact with the liquid. She gasped in surprise, and the professor turned around just in time to find Malfoy sputtering in rage and screaming in frustration while he relentlessly tried to remove the irremovable ink. 

Hermione had a sudden pang of guilt. She had no idea where it came from. Harry had just taken action against the snotty little Slytherin on her behalf, whether requested or not, she felt slightly indebted to him despite the fact she was upset at his late night absence from the castle. She turned back to her desk smirking as the professor yelled at Malfoy. Hermione stole a glance at Harry who was reclining and enjoying the excitement at Malfoy's desk. The professor obviously didn't believe that Malfoy wasn't responsible for it. 

Shortly afterwards the class ended they dispersed to drop off their books before going to dinner. Hermione watched as Harry sleepily wandered the halls. He looked like a lost puppy just following the flow. She swallowed her pain and walked up beside him. 

"You look like you're going to fall asleep before we get to Gryffindor Tower," she said. He looked at her and then resumed his walking in silence. She walked with him, trying to think of something fitting to say, but no words came. They had fallen behind the rest of the students, and the staircase they were on was shifting beneath them. When they finished the stairs Hermione had no idea where they were. It was a short corridor with a few doors but it was dark and looked spookier than the rest of the castle. Harry, after a moment's hesitation, walked forward at the same pace he had been traveling the entire time; sluggish. Hermione, torn between waiting for the staircase to come back and following Harry, chose to accompany the boy. She jogged up next to him, and turned sharply when he went up to a knight's armor. Harry said something, and the knight silently turned to the side as if it was on hinges. It revealed a narrow passage which Harry entered and Hermione slipped in just as the knight slid back into place. 

The tunnel was dark and she walked along with her fingers sliding along the wall. She couldn't see and rushed forward to try to catch up to Harry. She walked into him, and he grunted. She apologized and placed her other hand on his back so it wouldn't happen again.

The passage weaved slightly and a few times they came upon stairs. Harry would stumble in front of her and she would know where to be wary. In a few short minutes they popped out a wall behind a nook created by one of the stone pillars in a corridor. Hermione recognized it as the corridor in which the portrait of the Fat Lady hung. She smiled in her realization, and jogged to catch up to Harry. He was at the Fat Lady and for the last few days had already opened the portrait. He stepped in and held the door as she caught up. He ignored her and started toward the boys' dormitories. He stopped suddenly and turned around.

"Don't wait for me to go down to dinner. I'm not going tonight," he said. He didn't give her a chance to respond, and immediately started up the stairs to his dormitory. Hermione sighed and went up to drop off her books. She had no idea who she was going to sit with. 

/\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/ /\/

            The next weeks passed with little occurrence. The Weasley twins had stolen a toilet seat and displayed it on the mantle under the portrait of Godric Gryffindor. To everyone's amazement, the next morning there was a complete, intact, working toilet in front of the fireplace. The Weasley's were as stunned as was the rest of Gryffindor tower. That was until they received a sympathetic pat on the back from a certain first year. The twins, who never argued, started blaming the other for not thinking of it first. It startled everyone and Ronald seemed mortified by the event. The twins never fought. Ever. And that twerp made them fight. It wasn't possible, it wasn't natural.

            Harry and Hermione seemed to just forget the incident of mistrust and moved on quickly. Harry didn't feel that he'd wronged her, and she felt he felt strongly enough not to tell her, so I was important enough for her not to know. However, secretly, she had taken to spying on him. She charmed his hair so that she heard everything he said and heard. Of course that meant that she had to be listening to her wand. Whatever happened wasn't recorded so she just had to listen. She did learn that he mumbled in his sleep. She wondered if people told him strange things in his sleep, because she thought she kept hearing him say "Are you serious?" One thing was puzzling her about her spying. The spell was supposed to last up to four months, and for some unknown reason, it kept dying after a day or two. If he was taking it off himself he would have confronted her. But for some reason it was not working right. She looked into it, pouring over all the books she could find, but the only explanation she could think of was that _someone_ was interfering with her investigation. She forgot these thoughts as the first years arrived at the portrait of the fat lady. They were dropping off their books before dinner.

            Hermione saw Harry whispering quietly with Seamus, probably about some prank or another. Hermione watched them leave the common room heading down towards the Great Hall. She pulled her wand up to her ear.

            _"Is it possible?" Seamus' voice said._

_            "Absolutely. All we need is some weuphless skerjy powder and quetil fangs. We can order them from any apothecary. They would be more then happy to ship to Hogwarts to aid in the education (fake cough) of the students," Harry's voice whispered. _

_            "I suppose, it's just that, this could be dangerous," Seamus said. _

_            "As long as we get the ediket wings, all permanent side effects will be obsolete," Harry said._

_            "But we don't know how much to use," Seamus countered. _

_            "I have a rough estimate," Harry said thoughtfully._

_            "And how did you come to it?" asked Seamus._

_            "I tested on Weasley's rat. Four wings to a liter of potion kills the effects in one hour. Three wings to a liter kills the effects in six hours. Two wings to a liter kills the effects in about two days…" Harry explained._

_            "So you want to go with three and a half wings?" asked Seamus._

_            "I was thinking more along the lines of two and a half," Harry said. _

_            "But that's going to keep it alive for…for…for…like an entire day. Twenty four hours!!!" Seamus cried despite whispering._

_            "Precisely, six hours is no fun, it gives no chance for anything cool to happen," Harry responded. _

_            "But…all I have to say is that if any offspring come from this, I'm blaming you," Seamus said._

_            "Agreed. Now, lets go over the schemat-"_

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!" Hermione screamed as a very loud screech entered her eardrum. She tripped over her own feet and fell onto the arm of the sofa. She got a few weird looks from her housemates. She smiled weakly at them and returned to her feet. 

            So someone, whoever it was, had just killed her spell. This made her very angry, but her rumbling stomach told her it would have to wait. Dinner came first. 

            As she exited the common room, to start her trek to the great hall, she was simmering. She was angry, and for a good reason. Who had the right to take off her spell? Ok, so maybe she shouldn't have cast it in the first place, but still… She was so involved with her own thoughts that she didn't hear his voice until the fifth time he called her name.

            "Yes?" she asked meekly, ashamed to have been so ignorant. 

            "Ms. Granger, I realize you are very hungry, and that you are deep in thought, but I was hoping I could have a word with you for a minute. The classroom right here should do." The old man said. She hesitated at the request of her headmaster but gave in and followed him into the room. He sat at a desk and looked very foolish, but she sat next to him anyway, hoping that this wasn't going to take long. She had to find the person who was killing her spells. 

            "Ms. Granger, I understand that you care for the safety of Mr. Mutton, as does the entire staff of this school. However, I can assure you his safety and the safety of all the students is more complete than you know. There are a tremendous number of wards and protective spells around this institution, and more are not needed. Indeed some are not wanted. Do you understand me Ms. Granger?" Dumbledore said. 

            "Um, not clearly," she said honestly. 

            "I am asking you to stop the investigation of Mr. Mutton. Your spells, although advanced and well practiced are better than some third years I have seen, but I must ask you to stop," the old man clarified. She looked down and felt her cheeks turning red, her mind racing to find something to say. Her head jolted up.

            "You know, don't you," she said excitedly. The man looked amused. 

            "I know many things, Ms. Granger," he responded.

            "You know why he spent the night outside, don't you," she stated, her confidence coming back. She saw the old man look at her thoughtfully.

            "Yes, I do know _why_ he spent the night out of the castle, however I am still unaware of the actual actions taken during that period of his absence from the castle. I was assured Harry was in safe hands when he returned early the next morning, and I did not need to report or investigate the incident. However, if you want to record my statement, I will tell you that I know Mr. Mutton was getting ahead in his astronomy work. Do you understand me? What happened out there is not for you or me to know. Please allow Mr. Mutton this small privacy. I assure you that it will not last for him, so I would like him to enjoy what he has left of it. It is time for us both to go to dinner. I expect you'll behave Ms. Granger?" She nodded. "Very well. The food will not wait for long," Dumbledore said. Hermione hesitated, trying to think of a way of extracting what he knew, but she knew it was useless, and silently followed him from the room. 

Sorry this took so long. My beta had it for about a week and a half, and I was slow righting it, and yada, yada, yada. I hope you like it. Thank you everyone who reviewed, and I thank you ahead of time for those who will review this chapter. Happy reading. 

BTW, I will be updating my other story in a couple days as well, so my beta tells me, when she'll send it back. 


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